The Patriots added Riley Wilson late in the pre-camp shuffle, and the rookie linebacker arrives in Foxborough with a profile that fits the kind of flyer teams take when they want speed, flexibility and a little bit of upside without much risk.
Wilson is an undrafted free agent making his first NFL contract count after a bumpy path to New England. He was close to landing with the Buccaneers earlier this offseason, but a hip injury led to a failed medical and killed that deal. Three months later, he finally has a pro home, even if his hold on it is far from secure.
Wilson is listed as an outside linebacker and will wear No. 51.
He’s 24 years old, born May 30, 2002, and measured 6-foot-1 3/8, 226 pounds with 10-inch hands, 30 1/2-inch arms and a 73 1/2-inch wingspan. His testing numbers included a 4.57-second 40-yard dash, 7.07 in the 3-cone drill, 4.46 in the short shuttle, a 33 1/2-inch vertical, a 10-foot broad jump, 18 bench reps and a 6.83 Relative Athletic Score.
His football background stretches from Prestonwood Christian in Plano, Texas, where he played receiver and linebacker, to a college career that took him from Hawaii to Montana to Arizona. Wilson, whose father Buddy played college football at Ohio State in the early 80s, was a three-star recruit who chose Hawaii over Indiana and Louisiana Tech. He played 16 games with one start for the Rainbow Warriors before transferring to Montana in January 2023.
At Montana, Wilson logged 23 games and 13 starts over two seasons, earned second-team All-Big Sky recognition once, and then hit the portal again before his final year of eligibility. Arizona was next, and he added 11 more games and four starts to his résumé before going unselected in the 2026 NFL Draft and spending three months unsigned.
The appeal with Wilson is pretty straightforward: he can move. His game is built around speed and versatility, and that showed up in his Arizona pro day 40 time, which would have ranked eighth among linebackers at this year’s Combine and lands in the 92nd percentile historically at the position.
He can use that burst in coverage, in pursuit and coming off the edge, and he’s shown enough awareness and reaction ability to handle multiple jobs. There’s also a technical base there as a pass rusher, run defender and special teamer.
The flip side is just as clear. Wilson’s frame is ordinary for the position, and when bigger linemen get their hands on him, he can struggle to break free because he lacks power, length and a reliable set of counters.
He plays with active hands, but his pass-rush plan needs more definition. He’s also more linear than sudden, and the speed that shows up in testing doesn’t always translate cleanly on tape, especially against the run.
His 2025 season at Arizona was his most productive at the college level, even if it wasn’t the full breakout he may have wanted after transferring up. He played 11 games with four starts, logged 428 defensive snaps and 74 on special teams, and finished with 51 tackles, six missed tackles, eight tackles for loss and 16 quarterback pressures, including three sacks, five hits and eight hurries.
In coverage, he was targeted three times, allowed two catches for 30 yards, and recorded two interceptions and four pass breakups. He also added one special teams tackle and committed no penalties.
Arizona had to wait for him early. An injury in fall camp kept him out of two of his first three games, but once he returned against Iowa State, he became one of the Wildcats’ more frequently used defenders and a part-time special teamer.
His 16 pressures ranked second on the team, as did his three sacks, and his busiest outing came against No. 18 BYU in mid-October, when he made five disruptions and collected a sack in his first start since joining Arizona.
For New England, the plan is likely familiar. Wilson has played both on the edge and off the ball over his last three college seasons, and the Patriots are expected to use him in a similar way. The best-case path probably isn’t a starring role; it’s a backup move linebacker and a special teams contributor who can help in multiple phases.
That versatility is the hook. He doesn’t have the same size or athletic profile as former Patriots linebackers Dont’a Hightower, Kyle Van Noy and Jahlani Tavai, but he can shift between off-ball and edge work without much hesitation. He also brings five-unit special teams experience to the NFL, even though his 2025 work was mainly on kickoff coverage and punt return.
His contract is a standard three-year undrafted rookie deal, with an $885,000 base salary in 2026. That figure is also his cap hit, and because there are no guarantees, he doesn’t count against the Top 51 and has no current effect on New England’s salary cap.
As for the roster battle, the odds are long. Players arriving this late usually are, and Wilson is no exception. Still, the linebacker depth behind Robert Spillane and Christian Elliss is not settled, and if he develops quickly on defense and in the kicking game, he could at least hang around on the practice squad.
Making the 53-man roster would be a real surprise. Even getting to the practice squad won’t be easy. For Wilson, the path is narrow, and it runs through versatility and special teams.
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