FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Defensive end/outside linebacker Zach Moore, the sixth-round draft choice out of Division II Concordia-St. Paul, signed his contract with the New England Patriots on Thursday. Moore's agent, Blake Baratz, tweeted a picture of Moore inking the deal.
Congratulations to @zachmoore_90 on officially becoming a member of @Patriots. Boston got a great one. Well deserved! pic.twitter.com/M2Q5IriXeA
— Blake Baratz (@blakebaratz) May 15, 2014Under the NFL's new collective bargaining agreement, rookie contracts are slotted, which eliminates much of the haggling and delays that sometimes came up in previous years. Moore's quick signing reflects this, and there is no reason at this time to think the rest of the Patriots' rookie class will have any contractual-based issues.
As for Moore, Patriots coach Bill Belichick seemed excited to see if the team could harness some of his unique traits.
"He's got a lot of football in front of him. Lower level of competition there [in Division II] but he stood out and has a real good future if he can come in and develop some of the skills he has," Belichick said. "I think he has a real interesting skill set -- he's long, has good quickness, good burst/get off the ball. But he needs a lot of work. It's probably going to take a little bit of time, but we'll see."
Defensive end depth chart
Zach Moore