Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels returning to the New England Patriots in 2025 brought speculation about the fullback position doing the same. That was indeed the case, even though the team relied on a mix of a converted tight end and a defensive tackle to get the job done.
And with both of those players now headed for free agency, the future of the position at least from a personnel perspective is in question. We already spoke about defensive lineman Khyiris Tonga’s outlook earlier in the weekend, now let’s look at Jack Westover.
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Hard facts
Name: Jack Westover
Position: Fullback/Tight end
Jersey number: 37
Opening day age: 27 (6/9/1999)
Measurements: 6’2 5/8”, 245 lbs, 32 1/8” arm length, 9 1/8” hand size, 7.08s three-cone drill, 4.38s short shuttle, N/A Relative Athletic Score
Experience
NFL: Seattle Seahawks (2024), New England Patriots (2024-) | College: Washington (2018-23)
Westover’s high school football career was virtually non-existent. Primarily focusing on basketball at Mount Si in Snoqualmie, WA, he only picked up the sport again — he previously played in seventh grade — ahead of his senior season. However, a broken collarbone limited him to just two games and contributed to no scholarship offers coming his way.
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Westover went on to join the University of Washington as a walk-on, and to manage a nice college career. In six seasons with the Huskies, he appeared in 52 games with 16 starts and registered 94 offensive touches for 875 yards and seven touchdowns. He also was named All-Pac 12 honorable mention in 2023.
Nonetheless, Westover was once again overlooked heading into his next transition. He ended up going unselected in the 2024 NFL Draft, and joined the Seahawks as a rookie free agent. He lasted less than four months before being released, and another month later made his way to the New England practice squad followed by a promotion to the 53-man roster. Since then, Westover has appeared in 24 combined regular season and playoff games and also moved from tight end to fullback.
2025 review
Stats: 21 games (4 starts) | 317 offensive snaps (23.3%), 238 special teams snaps (43.4%) | 3 targets, 2 catches (66.7%), 8 receiving yards (4.0/catch), 1 drop (33.3%) | 1 penalty
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Season recap: Coming off a relatively quiet rookie season that saw him appear in just two games with 35 combined snaps between offense and special teams, Westover headed into his sophomore campaign as a projected roster bubble player at tight end. However, his outlook improved early in training camp when he started working at fullback — a role he had already sporadically played in college — after rookie Brock Lampe was lost for the season with a foot injury.
Westover effectively ran uncontested, and ended up making the 53-man roster as the Patriots’ fullback and a third-string option behind Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper at tight end. As such, he played all 21 of his team’s combined games between the regular season and playoffs and soared to unfamiliar heights as far as playing time was concerned.
On offense, he played just under a fourth of snaps and was mostly employed in the run game. Besides serving as a lead blocker from the backfield, he also was used as an in-line tight end and even sent into the slot or split out wide on occasion. He wasn’t a world beater, but he had some encouraging moments for a player that had only started getting extended fullback reps in late July. He also caught two of the three passes thrown his way, registering his first 8 career receiving yards in the process.
In the kicking game, meanwhile, Westover was a regular on three units — kickoff coverage, kickoff return, punt return — and finished the year ranked seventh on the team in total snaps. He again did not stand out, but instead was a steady presence that kept getting chances.
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Free agency preview
Free agency status: Exclusive rights free agent (ERFA)
What is his contract history? Westover earned $75,000 from the three-year undrafted rookie deal he signed with the Seahawks in 2024, but did manage a higher cash intake since arriving in New England. Spending time on the team’s practice squad and active roster, his combined career earnings stand at roughly $1.3 million, according to Over the Cap.
Which teams might be in the running? Look at any list of NFL teams’ needs and you probably find no more than one with fullback listed (Ravens). Tight end is a different story, meaning that teams such as the Chiefs, Broncos or Commanders might show interest in Westover should he make it to the open market.
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Why should he be expected back? Besides having gotten a little bit of experience by now, Westover also offers the versatility to help out at fullback, tight end and on special teams. He’s not a star player in the making, but he is one of those bottom-of-the-roster role players that prove highly valuable commodities relative to the cost associated with them. The Patriots have few of them between his primary positions on offense, especially with fellow fullback Brock Lampe coming off a season-long stint on injured reserve.
Why should he be expected to leave? Westover was an adequate fullback, but there is definitive room for improvement at the position. It might come from him, but the team very well might also decide that another option such as Lampe or somebody else might be an upgrade. And with Westover’s tight end résumé also not standing out, the Patriots moving in a different direction could very well happen.
What is his projected free agency outcome? He would not be guaranteed a roster spot, but the Patriots extending an exclusive rights tender still makes the most sense as the ultimate result of Westover’s free agency. The tender would pay him a non-guaranteed salary of $1.075 million and allow him to duke it out with Brock Lampe and/or any other fullback or backup tight end over the summer.
Now it’s your turn to play GM: What would you do with Jack Westover? Tender him? Sign him to a different deal? Not retaining him at all? Please head down to the comment section to share your plan.
