Tyler Neville and Chris Tyree Sign With NFL Teams as Undrafted Free Agents

A graduate transfer from Harvard, Tyler Neville was Virginia's second-leading receiver in his lone season as a Cavalier, catching 37 passes for 394 yards and two touchdowns, which both came in Virginia's thrilling come from behind victory at Wake Forest in week 2. That was the first two-touchdown game of his career and he became the first UVA tight end to have two touchdowns in a game since Tom Santi did so against Duke in 2007. Neville registered a career-high seven receptions against Louisville and eclipsed the 1,000-yard career receiving mark against North Carolina. Including his previous three seasons at Harvard, Neville finished his college career with 99 receptions for 1,092 yards and 10 touchdowns in 42 games and 36 starts.

The Dallas Cowboys have seven tight ends on their offseason roster, headlined by Jake Ferguson and Luke Schoonmaker. The TE3 spot on the depth chart is considered up for grabs and Neville could potentially contend for that spot if the next few months go his way. The Cowboys also have Brevyn Spann-Ford, John Stephens Jr., Princeton Fant, and Rivaldo Fairweather at the tight end position. According to a report from ESPN's Todd Archer, the Cowboys paid Neville a $10,000 signing bonus and guaranteed $90,000 of his base salary, which would seem to demonstrate, at least to some extent, that Dallas has confidence in Neville's potential to contribute to the franchise.

The New Orleans Saints, fresh off of selecting Virginia safety Jonas Sanker with the 93rd overall pick in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft on Friday, signed Sanker's UVA teammate Chris Tyree as an undrafted free agent on Saturday.

A former Notre Dame transfer wide receiver, Tyree struggled to get into a rhythm in the Virginia offense in his one season in Charlottesville, totaling 24 receptions for 136 yards in 2024. This comes after an accomplished career in South Bend, where Tyree racked up 945 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns on 82 receptions, 1,161 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns on 232 carries, and 1,059 kick return yards and 119 punt return yards for a grand total of 3,284 all-purpose yards in four seasons and 49 career games at Notre Dame.

It is likely his previous production as a member of the Fighting Irish that is powering his signing as an undrafted free agent, though Tyree helped himself a bunch with his showing at UVA's Pro Day last month, as he recorded a mark of 42 inches in the vertical jump, which would have been the best mark by any wide receiver at the NFL Combine and second-best by any prospect at the Combine.

Chris Tyree will have his work cut out for him, but the Saints do not have much depth at wide receiver behind Chris Olave, Brandin Cooks, and Rashid Shaheed, so there could be an opportunity for him to make the roster to reinforce New Orleans' depth at wideout.