The New England Patriots are showing interest in one free agent safety in the form of Obi Melifonwu, who last suited up for the Oakland Raiders. According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, Melifonwu visited New England Friday.
Source: Former #Raiders second-round pick S Obi Melifonwu is visiting the #Patriots today. Some possible back-end help. He was with the #Cowboys yesterday.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 26, 2018
Although it remains uncertain how high is the Patriots’ level of urgency to add a new safety, it’s not going to be a bad idea for them to take a gamble on a young and cheap defensive piece. New England currently has Devin McCourty and Patrick Chung atop the team’s safety depth chart and both men are 31 years old. Injecting youth to the group now could benefit the Patriots in the long run.
Melifonwu has yet to prove himself in the pro ranks largely because of injuries, but he’s a low-risk option the Patriots can sign and hope to develop.
Drafted in the second round of last year’s NFL Draft by the Raiders, Melifonwu appeared in only five games wearing Oakland threads in 2017 and has yet to take the field this season. Melifonwu found himself getting placed twice on the injured reserve in 2017. The Raiders placed him again on the IR before the 2018 NFL campaign before letting Melifonwu go earlier this week.
Obi Melifonwu, who also visited the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday, played four years of college football with the Connecticut Huskies from 2013 to 2016 and collected 349 tackles and eight interceptions during that span.
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