Malik

Gant

The Patriots cut RB Tyler Gaffney to create room for Gant, who has never appeared in an NFL game. However, he’s familiar with New England after signing there two years ago as a UDFA.

Gant (6’0/209) went pro as a redshirt junior after transforming himself from freshman walk-on to back-end intimidator in the Thundering Herd secondary, starting for two years and ringing up 15.5 tackles for loss and 13 pass breakups. Gant was badly exposed as a sub-par athlete in Combine workouts, however, managing a 4.63 forty and sluggish 7.45 three-cone time, exhibiting neither NFL-caliber long speed nor short-area quickness. Gant’s ceiling is likely a gung-ho special teamer and No. 3 or 4 safety.