(UHND) — The NFL Draft came and passed with just two Notre Dame players being selected in the seven round draft this past weekend, but Carlyle Holiday, Greg Pauly, and Mike Goolsby all signed free agent deals Monday. Holiday, Pauly, and Goolsby joined Jerome Collins and Justin Tuck who were drafted over the weekend.
Pauly Signs with Bears
Notre Dame defensive tackle Greg Pauly signed with the Chicago Bears Monday after going undrafted this weekend. Pauly came to Notre Dame as a highly touted defensive tackle prospect, but injuries early in his career slowed his impact for the Irish. After starting just 5 games in his first four seasons at Notre Dame, Pauly started all 12 games as a 5th year senior in 2004.
Pauly made the most of his senior season with career highs in tackles and tackles for loss. Pauly ended his final season under the dome with 37 tackles, 5.5 for loss, and 1 sack. Coming into this season Pauly only had 31 career tackles with 5.5 for loss and 2 sacks. Pauly will need to have a good training camp to make the Bears roster. The Bears have a group of talented young defensive tackles in Tommy Harris, Tank Williams, and Ian Scott leaving little room on the depth chart.
Former QB Holiday Joins Cardinals
Carlyle Holiday spent nearly 3 full seasons as a quarterback for Notre Dame, before converting to receiver full time as a senior. Following Arnaz Battle’s example from a few years back, Holiday showed enough potential to get a call from an NFL team. Battle however had 2 full seasons to play receiver which resulted in him being drafted as opposed to going the undrafted free agent route.
Holiday, like Pauly, joins a team that has a good group of young players at his position including Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, and Bryant Johnson. Holiday’s untapped talent got him this audition with the Cardinals and he will have an opportunity to make the squad based on athletic ability alone. He will face a lot of competition however with 10 wide receivers listed on the Cardinals roster after the draft and fee agent signgings.
Holiday caught just 3 passes for 25 yards in 2004, but for his career he threw for 2876 yards, 14 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions and ran for another 895 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Mike Goolsby Picked Up By Cowboys
Notre Dame linebacker Mike Goolsby saw his draft stock fall after the NFL Combine due to some unimpressive numbers. Goolsby put up some slow numbers in the 40 and agility drills which scared teams off during the draft. He signed with the Cowboys on Monday which is a good fit for the hard nosed linebacker.
Goolsby had an up and down career at Notre Dame which included a complete season lost to injury in 2003. Last season Goolsby did not seem his old self even though he started 11 games and lead the team with 97 tackles. Goolsby seemed to lose some of his speed and quickness after sitting out the 2003 season. Mike did provide Notre Dame with one of its defensive highlight of the season with an interception return for a touchdown against Tennessee which turned out to be the game winner.
Dallas is a good fit for Goolsby because the Cowboys are said to be switching to a 3-4 defense after a success draft on the defensive line. The switch to a 3-4 gives Goolsby a better chance at landing on the roster. Goolsby will need to work on his speed and agility however if he wants to stick on the roster.
For his career, Goolsby recorded 177 tackles, 28.5 for loss, 7 sacks, and 3 INTs.
