Texas Tech basketball's Marcus Santos-Silva earns contract from Cleveland Browns
A former Texas Tech basketball standout has been offered a contract by the Cleveland Browns, making the leap to the NFL in an unusual way. Marcus Santos-Silva will attempt to play football at the highest level after five years of college basketball with VCU and Texas Tech.
Texas Tech basketball produces NFL prospect for the Browns
“Browns signed former Texas Tech basketball player Marcus Santos-Silva to play tight end,” said Pro Football Network‘s Aaron Wilson.
The Browns are hoping that Santos-Silva’s size will translate onto the field for them as the 6’6″, 261 pound athlete competes for an NFL roster spot. Santos-Silva played his first three seasons with VCU before transferring to Texas Tech, and finished his career with 1,244 points, 957 rebounds and 61 blocks. He led the Big-12 Conference in offensive rebounds during the 2020-21 season, and his career total of 163 games played ranks ninth all-time in the NCAA.
The Browns spent two of their nine picks in the 2022 NFL Draft on wide receivers, but did not select a tight end — possibly boosting Santos-Silva’s chances of making an impact via Texas Tech basketball instead of football.
Clemson’s Naz Bohannon attends NFL minicamp
Santos-Silva isn’t the only college basketball player with the potential to make an NFL roster this offseason.
When a player from Clemson attends an NFL rookie minicamp, they’re usually a highly-touted prospect that several teams sought going into draft day. As it turns out, the Tigers are breeding NFL players on the basketball court as well.
Former Clemson basketball forward Naz Bohannon is set to participate in a tryout for the Jacksonville Jaguars rookie minicamp as a tight end, per his agent, On3’s Matt Zenitz reports.
The 6-foot-6, 230-pound former Tiger averaged 5.7 points and 4.1 rebounds per game for Clemson last season. Prior to that, Bohannon spent his first four years of college basketball at Youngstown State University and averaged 16.5 points and 8.2 rebounds in his first senior season.
On3’s Barkley Truax contributed to this article.