2016 NFL Free Agency: Louisville DL Pio Vatuvei gets invited to Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie minicamp

With the 2016 NFL draft ending on Saturday evening, plenty of former Cardinals are signing un-drafted free agency contracts with various teams. You can catch up on the list of the various Cardinals signing with NFL teams here. To add to that list of former U of L players getting shots with a team, defensive lineman Pio Vatuvei is invited to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie minicamp.

Standing at 6'2" and 296 lbs, Vatuvei came to Louisville has a junior-college transfer from the College of San Mateo. Originally from Patterson, California, Vatuvei originally went to the University of Washington as a former four-star recruit and top-150 high school recruit. After coming to U of L, he played in 23 games, even starting 14 of them, in his final two years. He finished out the 2015 season with 26 tackles, 3.5 of which were for a loss, and recorded one sack.

Vatuvei wasn't invited to attend the scouting combine up in Indianapolis, and was generally regarded that he wouldn't get drafted, despite having a high motor. Vatuvei will tryout as a defensive end, but could also see some work at the 3-technique as a defensive tackle. I find it interesting that they signed 19 UDFA's, yet made the peculiar move of trading up to draft a kicker.

Best of luck to Vatuvei!