On Monday, the Cleveland Browns announced that they had signed Texas Tech’s Marcus Santos-Silva to a contract. And this wouldn’t be any surprise if it wasn’t for the fact that Santos-Silva actually played basketball at Texas Tech.
According to the Browns’ official announcement, Santos-Silva will play the tight end position in the NFL. The other details of the agreement remain under wraps.
While Santos-Silva never played as a TE in college, he does have experience with the position. The Boston-native lined up as a tight end during his first year in high school but later opted to focus solely on basketball. He finished his college basketball career averaging 4.9 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.
The Cleveland Browns hope that Santos-Silva’s athleticism and size (6-6, 261) can help him make an easy transition to NFL as a TE. He wouldn’t be the first hoops player to do so as Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez and legendary Charger Antonio Gates. Gonzalez played both football and basketball at college, while Gates only played basketball before entering the NFL.
If Santos-Silva pans out for the Browns, he will join a TE core that has veteran David Njoku and 2020’s fourth-round selection Harrison Bryant. Cleveland released Pro Bowler Austin Hooper back in March.
