Patriots Sign Two, But Not Balestracci after Last Weekend's Rookie Mini-Camp

Things aren’t looking too promising for 2003 football captain Dante Balestracci’s professional career just yet. The four-time All-Ivy middle linebacker was invited to attend the New England Patriots rookie mini-camp this past weekend, but was not one of the two players signed by New England on Sunday, the Boston Globe reported.

The Patriots had invited five undrafted players to tryout in addition to their eight newly-drafted rookies. The signed players were Hofstra’s Ricky Bryant, a wide receiver, and Andy Mignery, a tight end out of Michigan.

After Balestracci was not chosen in the 2004 NFL Draft, he had hoped to be signed as a free agent, similar to wide receiver Carl Morris ’03 and offensive lineman Jamil Soriano ’03—both of whom were not picked in the draft but later signed free-agent deals with the Miami Dolphins and Patriots, respectively.

It is uncertain what Balestracci’s next move will be; his agent has in the past mentioned pursuing other NFL tryout offers as well as opportunities in the Canadian Football League.

Balestracci was unavailable for comment.