Not only did TE Pat Freiermuth come close to being drafted out of state, he nearly had to move to the other side of the country. Had the board broken a certain way on Day 2 of the 2021 NFL Draft, Freiermuth would be a member of the Los Angeles Chargers.
Appearing on Christian Kuntz’s podcast in an episode released Thursday, Freiermuth says the Chargers tabbed him as their second-round backup plan.
“I was gonna go to the Chargers at 46 if Asante Samuel Jr. wasn’t on the board,” Freiermuth told the show. “But he was, and they drafted him.”
A small point of clarification, the Chargers took Samuel 47th overall, not 46th. But the takeaway is that the Chargers had Freiermuth as Plan B had Samuel been scooped up ahead of where they picked in the second round. That tracks with the team’s draft movements, the Chargers selecting Georgia TE Tre McKitty 97th overall later that day.
Granted, these draft stories are common, and teams tell or promise prospects all the time that they’ll take them before passing the prospect on by. There’s no guarantee the Chargers would’ve taken Freiermuth even if Samuel was off the board. But the odds seem high. The Chargers had a need at tight end after losing Hunter Henry to the New England Patriots and Freiermuth was viewed as solid Day 2 value.
Freiermuth said his agent gave him a list of “12 to 15” teams that rated him highly. The Chargers and Steelers were among the group, as were a slew of teams picking between them. That led to some draft day tension.
“There was a stretch of like four teams back-to-back-to-back-to-back, Pittsburgh being the last at 55, who were really in on drafting me. And that went by. And the 412 popped up,” he said.
Picking between the Chargers and Steelers were the San Francisco 49ers, Arizona Cardinals, New York Giants, Washington Commanders, Cleveland Browns, Tennessee Titans, and Indianapolis Colts. It’s hard to know who those other teams were, though the Commanders and Colts selected tight ends in the fourth round.
Fortune fell the Steelers’ way. Freiermuth could say the same. Though born in the Boston area, he played college at Penn State, meaning going to the Steelers provided plenty of familiarity, just a couple hours drive away. Pittsburgh did plenty of homework on Freiermuth and sent TEs Coach Alfredo Roberts to put him through routes at his Pro Day.
It’s the domino effect of the draft and why they’re impossible to predict. One team makes one move, and it shifts the landscape of everything else. For the Chargers, they got their guy in Samuel, who has had a solid career. And the Steelers got theirs in Freiermuth, who could receive an extension to stay in the area long-term by the start of the regular season.
Check out the whole episode below.
