FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Patriots have signed second-year nose tackle Steve Fifita, rookie tight end Tyson DeVree and rookie punter Mike Dragosavich. Terms of the agreements were not disclosed. DeVree and Dragosavich were signed as rookie free agents following tryouts at the Patriots' rookie mini-camp this past weekend (May 2-3). Additionally, the team waived rookie offensive tackle Josh Coffman and rookie defensive lineman Carlos Feliciano.
Fifita, 25, played in 13 games with one start for the Miami Dolphins in his first NFL season in 2007. The 6-foot, 312-pound nose tackle was originally signed by the Dolphins as a rookie free agent out of the University of Utah on May 5, 2006. He was waived by Miami on Aug. 29, 2006 and spent the 2006 season out of football. Fifita re-signed with the Dolphins on Jan. 18, 2007 and was allocated to NFL Europa, where he played in 10 games with four starts for the Frankfurt Galaxy in the Spring of 2007. In his first NFL season in 2007, he recorded 11 tackles (seven solo) for Miami. He was waived by the Dolphins on April 29, 2008.
DeVree, 23, finished his college career at the University of Colorado (2006-07) after transferring from Western Michigan (2003-04) after his sophomore year. The 6-foot-6, 245-pound tight end played in 44 collegiate games making 96 receptions for 987 yards and 15 receiving touchdowns. Last season with the Buffaloes, DeVree posted a career-high eight receiving touchdowns while making 37 receptions for 402 yards. In 2006, he played in 11 games and with three starts and made four catches for 36 yards and one touchdown. DeVree was redshirted in 2005 after transferring. As a sophomore with Western Michigan in 2004, he was a preseason second-team All-Mid-America Conference team member and hauled in 25 receptions for 218 yards and three touchdowns in 11 games. DeVree tallied 30 receptions for 331 yards and three touchdowns as a freshman in 2003.
Dragosavich, 22, finished his four-year college career at North Dakota State University as the school's all-time leader in punting average (44.5 yards per punt). The 6-foot-5, 190-pound punter collected 158 career punts for 7,025 yards with 32 touchbacks, seven fair catches and 61 punts inside the 20-yard line. Dragosavich led the Great West Football Conference in punting during his senior season last year with an average of 45.4 yards per punt with 27 punts for 1,225 yards, eight touchbacks and 11 punts inside the 20-yard line. In 2006 with the Bison, he had 30 punts for 1,385 yards, seven touchbacks and 14 punts inside the 20-yard line. Dragosavich registered a career-long 79-yard punt at Southern Illinois while tallying 47 punts for 2,186 yards, 11 touchbacks and 20 punts inside the 20-yard line in 2005 as a sophomore. He notched career bests with 54 punt attempts and 2,229 yards as a freshman in 2004.
Coffman, 23, and Feliciano, 22, were signed by the Patriots as rookie free agents on May 2.
