Top storylines coming out of the second week of UFL free agency

The second week of UFL free agency is now in the books, and while it wasn’t as busy and didn’t get as much attention as the first week’s activities, there were still developments worth discussing based on who was signed – and who was released – by the eight teams. Among the key moves:

Kicking competition comes to St. Louis

In 2023, St. Louis drafted kicker Donny Hageman in November, and he went uncontested for the job in training camp. He connected on just 67% of his field goals on the season, so the Battlehawks decided to look elsewhere to fill the position in 2024. They didn’t draft a kicker in either dispersal phase, nor did they agree to terms with one in the first few days of free agency. Then, in a four day span, St. Louis acquired Andre Szmyt and Andrew Mevis, two decorated college kickers, who will vie for the opportunity to kick for Anthony Becht’s squad this spring.

Szmyt won the Lou Groza Award as the top kicker in the nation in 2018 and was briefly in training camp with the Chicago Bears this summer, his rookie season. Mevis, who can also punt, hit on 87% of his field goals in his final collegiate season at Iowa State in 2021. Trusting young kickers is a risky proposition, but the competition created at the position could help steel the nerves of the winner.

QB carousel continues to spin

Even after the dispersal drafts, it was clear that UFL teams would need to continue looking for upgrades at the quarterback position. The first domino to fall there was the Houston Roughnecks claiming QB Reid Sinnett off waivers from the San Antonio Brahmas, releasing QB Kenji Bahar, who they had initially protected from their 2023 roster.

Bahar put up modest numbers last year as a starter. He was retained along with off-season addition Jarrett Guarantano. During the first week of free agency, Houston also agreed to terms with Nolan Henderson, a rookie out of Delaware. Though Houston would’ve been fine going into camp with those three doing battle for the starting spot, the Roughnecks saw an opportunity to upgrade by bringing in Sinnett. Sinnett adds a more veteran presence to the group. Bahar is a known commodity who would be a serviceable backup in the league; he could get a call during training camp should an injury or two strike.

Memphis made some moves at QB too, waiving both Guy Myers and Ryan Willis, while adding former Pittsburgh Mauler Troy Williams. This gives the team Case Cookus, Cole Kelley, and Williams at quarterback. Williams, a one-year starter in college, spent time in the CFL before leading Pittsburgh in eight games last year.

Finally, the Michigan Panthers waived QB Carson Strong on Monday, a week after bringing back EJ Perry. Perry ended the NFL season on the practice squad of the Jacksonville Jaguars, but did not sign a futures contract for 2024. Strong was a hot name heading into the spring football seasons of 2023, but the once highly-touted player may be ending his playing career – he volunteered on the coaching staff of his alma mater, Nevada, this past fall.

Former NFL first round pick heads to DC

Buried among the transactions publicized by UFL Communications on January 25 was CB Deandre Baker agreeing to terms with DC. Baker was a 2019 first round pick of the New York Giants after he intercepted seven passes during his college career at Georgia. Following a productive rookie season in which he started 15 games, Baker was arrested for armed robbery and aggravated assault in May of 2020. In November of that year, the charges were dropped (after a bizarre situation in which his accusers’ attorney was arrested for extortion), but the damage had been done.

Three days after the charges were dropped, Baker signed on to the practice squad of the Kansas City Chiefs. Quite the precipitous fall from grace. He had the opportunity to play as a practice squad elevation, but broke his femur in the final regular season game. Baker played eight games in 2021 but was let go in August 2022. That was the last time he was on an NFL roster. Just 26 years old, it’s quite possible Baker has a renaissance of sorts under head coach Reggie Barlow in the nation’s capital.

UFL teams raid NFL practice squads

Two weeks into UFL free agency, the league has signed five players that finished NFL seasons on team practice squads. Three were signed after the first week (I wrote about them here), with two added since then in Perry and LB Ace Eley (Houston Roughnecks via Carolina Panthers). Most NFL teams have wrapped up the bulk of their futures signings; there are still about 150 players that ended the year on practice squads who are now free agents. Those players should expect their phones to ring, with UFL coaches and general managers on the other end, trying to convince them to jump to the spring league in order to improve their odds of landing an NFL contract. You can follow along as I track those practice squad players – who has signed futures deals, who hasn’t – in the UFL Board forums.

RB Max Borghi opts out, won’t play for Battlehawks

While unreported by the league at this point, SI’s Anthony Miller broke the news that RB Max Borghi won’t play in the UFL in 2024, leaving the Battlehawks without an expected key contributor. Borghi was claimed off waivers from the XFL Roughnecks in December and was thought to be the clubhouse leader for touches at the position for the upcoming season. At the time of his departure, it left only Mataeo Durant and Kevon Latulas at RB for St. Louis.

Durant performed well as the backup to Brian Hill last year. Latulas put up big numbers in college, albeit at FCS Missouri State. Even though the UFL is not the NFL, that’s still a big jump to make. With Borghi apparently out, the Battlehawks did agree to terms with NFL veteran Wayne Gallman on Tuesday. A fourth-round draft pick of the New York Giants in 2019, Gallman could take over the role Hill had last year. Expecting that level of production may even be a bit much, as he did not play at all in 2023 and is 29 years old, which is aged for his position. The Battlehawks will likely need at least two or three more backs in total, if nothing else than for depth during training camp.

Deestroying arrives in San Antonio

Donald De La Haye, better known as social media influencer Deestroying, played a role with the XFL last year, appearing on the sidelines for a few games and frequently featuring the league on his YouTube channel. A former kicker at UCF, De La Haye chose monetizing his YouTube page over college athletics when push came to shove. He spent a little time in the CFL but otherwise has focused his efforts on his vlog, to which he has over five million subscribers.

De La Haye has kept up his kicking and continued to hone his craft during this time. Now, San Antonio is taking a chance on him, as they agreed to terms with him on Tuesday. De La Haye was a kickoff specialist in college so he has limited field goal experience; with the UFL adopting the USFL’s kickoff rules, we’ll see if there’s room on a roster for someone who only kicks off. The Brahmas have another kicker on their roster in Christopher Dunn, a top player at his position coming out of college. It’ll be an uphill battle for De La Haye, but if nothing else, the UFL will be able to get its brand out to a wider audience because of it.