According to ESPN's Mike Reiss, the Patriots are making a late spring addition to their tight end room with the addition of veteran Anthony Firkser.
A graduate of Harvard, Firkser was a camp casualty and practice squad player in 2017. He spent training camp with the Jets but got cut before the start of the season and then later landed on the Chiefs practice squad to finish that season but was waived in the spring of 2018.
After signing with the Titans in May of the same year, Firkser found a role under Mike Vrabel during the 2018 season, finally making a permanent jump to the active roster in early October. He went on to post solid production with the Titans over the next four seasons, tallying 106 catches for 1,107 yards and five touchdowns in 58 games. That production included two catches and a touchdown in the Titans' 2019 Wild Card victory over the Patriots in Foxborough.
Firsker signed a pair of one-year deals with the Titans in 2020 and 2021 before moving on to the Falcons for 2022 where he started off on the practice squad once again but was promoted to the active roster and wrapped the season up with nine catches for 100 yards in 11 games.
The veteran offers some h-back potential, as he's familiar with moving around the backfield and is not limited to a pure tight end role. In that regard, he's somewhat unique on the Patriots roster at this point. Hunter Henry and Mike Gesicki are atop the tight end depth chart, but seem like prototypical "Y" and "F" tight ends respectively so a third slot could be there for the taking by Firsker, especially if he's able to bring some versatility to the offense. Veteran Matt Sokol and Scotty Washington, along with undrafted rookie Johnny Lumpkin round out the depth in the room, and have just six games of NFL experience combined compared to Firsker's 69.
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