Patriots sign former track star to bolster tight end depth

Back in the spring, Mike Vrabel said he wanted the Patriots to add more depth to their tight end room before the start of training camp.

On Wednesday, the team did just that, signing an intriguing prospect who was once a standout track-and-field athlete.

The Patriots signed tight end Mitch Van Vooren while subsequently releasing fullback Brock Lampe. The team also announced the signing of undrafted rookie free agent Riley Wilson.

Van Vooren has an interesting backstory. He signed with the Seattle Seahawks last season as an undrafted free agent out of Division III St. Norbert College in Wisconsin. He was released by Seattle last summer and spent the rest of training camp with the Cleveland Browns before being released on cut-down day.

Now, the small-school prospect comes to New England.

Van Vooren started his collegiate career as a standout track athlete at Marquette, setting a school record in the 400-meter hurdles. He transferred to St. Norbert to play football. The 6-foot-5, 245-pound athlete spent two seasons there, catching 22 passes for 1,045 yards and 13 touchdowns. He was a first-team All-NACC selection in 2024, finishing with 33 receptions, 510 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Van Vooren also competed in track at St. Norbert, earning first-team All-American honors in track, placing fourth overall in the NCAA Division III National Championship.

Now, he joins a Patriots team that’s looking for a No. 3 tight end after veteran Julian Hill suffered a season-ending knee injury in minicamp. Hunter Henry and rookie Eli Raridon figure to be the top two players on the depth chart. After that, players such as C.J. Dippre, Tanner Arkin, Jack Westover and Van Vooren will compete for the last spot.

After Hill’s injury, Vrabel said he wanted to see the team add more depth before training camp started.

“I think just from a numbers standpoint in camp, I think that’s somewhere we’ll probably have to evaluate the numbers,” Vrabel said. “There’s 90 guys, 91 guys on every team. So, we’ll just have to take a look at that, but I would say that’s probably somewhere where we would have to address.”

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