Two former Alabama players signed NFL reserve/future contracts on Tuesday – safety Shyheim Carter with the Tennessee Titans and defensive lineman LaBryan Ray with the New England Patriots.
Both players ended the 2022 season on the practice squads of those teams.
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Neither player has appeared in an NFL regular-season game.
A player signed to a reserve/future contract can be added to an NFL team’s roster when it expands from 53 to 90 players for the offseason on the first day of the NFL’s 2023 business year on March 15. The newly signed players become eligible to participate in offseason workouts, minicamps and OTAs as team members.
Only players who aren’t on NFL active rosters can sign reserve/future contracts.
An undrafted rookie, Ray stuck with New England as a practice-squad member after playing 102 defensive snaps in three preseason games. On Oct. 26, the Patriots placed Ray on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury, and he finished the season there.
Ray came to Alabama from James Clemens High School in Madison after winning the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s Class 7A Lineman of the Year Award in 2015 and 2016.
This is the second January in a row that Carter has signed a reserve/future contract with Tennessee, although he had joined the Titans’ practice squad only one week ago.
Carter went through the offseason program, training camp and preseason with the Titans before being waived on Aug. 22. He rejoined Tennessee on Oct. 4 for a six-week stay as a practice-squad member.
Since entering the NFL as an undrafted rookie in 2020, Carter also has been on the practice squads of the Houston Texans and Atlanta Falcons.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
