Eric Saubert (born May 9, 1994) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

for the

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of the

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(NFL). He played college football at

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

, and was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the fifth round of the

2017 NFL Draft The 2017 NFL Draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia ...

Professional career

On December 5, 2016, it was announced that Saubert had accepted an invitation to play in the 2017 East–West Shrine Game. He impressed scouts and analysts throughout practices for the Shrine Game, displaying his athleticism, receiving ability, and received praises from multiple media members, including NFL analyst Mike Mayock. On January 21, 2017, Saubert played in the East–West Shrine Game and was part of an East team that lost 10–3 to the West. Unfortunately, he was unable to record a reception although he was targeted twice. On January 26, 2017, it was announced that Saubert would be a late addition to play in the

2017 Senior Bowl The 2017 Senior Bowl was an all-star college football exhibition game featuring players from the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season, and prospects for the 2017 Draft of the professional National Football League (NFL). The game concluded t ...

. He Attended two days later and was a part of Cleveland Browns' head coach Hue Jackson's South team that defeated the North 16–15. He was unable to record a reception with top draft prospects O. J. Howard, David Njoku, and

Gerald Everett Skarino Gerald Rashard Everett (born June 25, 1994) is an American football tight end for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at South Alabama, and was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in t ...

on his team and only having a day of practice. Saubert was one of 19 collegiate tight ends to receive an invitation to the

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foo ...

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. He tied for second amongst his position group in the bench press, fifth in the broad jump, and eighth in the vertical jump and opted to only perform those drills. On March 28, 2017, Saubert attended Iowa State's pro day and performed all of the combine drills and positional drills. He ran receiving drills with Cincinnati Bengals' tight ends coach Jonathan Hayes for the 33 team representatives and scouts who attended from 22 NFL teams. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Saubert was projected to be a fifth or sixth round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked the 12th best tight end prospect in the draft by

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and was ranked the 13th best tight end by NFLDraftScout.com.

Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons selected Saubert in the fifth round (174th overall) of the

. He was the first player selected from Drake since Pat Dunsmore was selected in the fourth round (183rd overall) of the

1983 NFL Draft The 1983 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 26–27, 1983, at the New York Sh ...

. Saubert was the 20th player drafted in Drake University history. He was the 12th tight end drafted in 2017. On May 11, 2017, the Atlanta Falcons signed Saubert to a four-year, $2.62 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $227,388. With the departure of Jacob Tamme in free agency, Saubert competed for the starting tight end job throughout training camp, against Austin Hooper and

Levine Toilolo Levine Joseph Toilolo (born July 30, 1991) is an American football tight end who is a free agent. He played college football at Stanford, and was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the fourth round of the 2013 NFL Draft. Early years Toilolo was ...

. Head coach Dan Quinn named him the third string tight end to begin the regular season. He made his professional regular season debut in the Atlanta Falcons' season-opening 23–17 victory at the Chicago Bears. He played in 14 games his rookie year but did not record any statistics. Saubert had five catches for 48 yards (9.6 yards per catch) in 2018 as he saw action in all 16 games, including one start.

New England Patriots

On August 12, 2019, Saubert was traded to the New England Patriots for a conditional seventh-round draft pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. He was released during final roster cuts on August 31, 2019.

Oakland Raiders

Saubert signed with the Oakland Raiders' practice squad on September 1, 2019.

Chicago Bears

On November 30, 2019, Saubert was signed by the Chicago Bears off the Raiders practice squad. He caught two passes for 21 yards during the 2019 season. Saubert was placed on the reserve/

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list by the Bears on July 29, 2020, and activated from the list five days later. He was waived by the team on September 16, 2020.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On September 19, 2020, Saubert was signed to the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...

practice squad. He was elevated to the active roster on October 24 for the team's week 7 game against the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

, and reverted to the practice squad after the game. He was signed to the active roster on November 21, 2020.

Denver Broncos

Saubert signed with the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

on May 3, 2021. He made the active roster as the third TE on the depth chart and recorded one catch for 7 yards in Week 1 against the New York Giants. After posting just a single catch in Week 2 and no stats in Weeks 3-5, Saubert had a career best day in the Week 6 loss to the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West div ...

with 3 catches for 27 yards and an onside kick recovery. He caught the first

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

pass of his career in the week 12 win against the Chargers. On May 4, 2022, Saubert re-signed with the Broncos.

Miami Dolphins

On March 17, 2023, Saubert signed a one-year contract with the

References

External links

Drake Bulldogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saubert, Eric 1994 births Living people American football tight ends Atlanta Falcons players Chicago Bears players Denver Broncos players Drake Bulldogs football players Jacksonville Jaguars players Miami Dolphins players New England Patriots players Oakland Raiders players People from Hoffman Estates, Illinois Players of American football from Illinois Sportspeople from Cook County, Illinois Sportspeople from Kane County, Illinois