All Sooners

Keep Up With Oklahoma's NFL Free Agent Signings

With only two Sooners selected in this weekend's NFL Draft, a handful of players are already signing contracts as undrafted free agents.
John Hoover|
Oklahoma defensive end Trace Ford
Oklahoma defensive end Trace Ford | John E. Hoover / Sooners On SI

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Oklahoma Sooners

With Oklahoma having only two players picked in this year’s NFL Draft, there are plenty of Sooners in the pool of undrafted free agents.

Linebacker Danny Stutsman (Saints) and safety Billy Bowman (Falcons) were both chosen in the fourth round on Saturday.

By the time the draft ended on Saturday night, however, OU had its smallest draft class since 2002, when Roy Williams and Rocky Calmus were drafted.

Now, former OU players await phone calls from their agents and/or potential employers — NFL teams — to begin their pro careers as free agents.

Sooners On SI readers can keep up with the signings all weekend right here as we update this story as news breaks.

Da’Jon Terry, Rams

Defensive tackle Da’Jon Terry was the first Sooner reported to have signed a free agent deal on Saturday night, as NFL insider Tom Pelissero reported that Terry had signed with the Los Angeles Rams.

After beginning his college career in 2019 and playing two seasons at Kansas and then transferring to play two more years at Tennessee, Terry played his final two seasons at OU.

He played in 62 games in his college career and made 14 starts. As a Sooner he played 26 games and got four starts, finishing with 39 tackles, nine tackles for loss and 1 1/2 quarterback sacks.

In his career, the 6-foot, 317-pound Terry finished with 91 tackles, 17 TFLs and 6 1/2 sacks.

Michael Tarquin

Offensive tackle Michael Tarquin began his career by playing three years at Florida, then spent one season at USC, where he played for Lincoln Riley. Tarquin's final collegiate season was at Oklahoma.

Tarquin reportedly has agreed to free agent terms with the Carolina Panthers, according to Mike Kaye of the Charlotte Observer.

Tarquin played in 10 games with the Sooners, with seven starts. He started four games at right tackle and three starts at left tackle, and also missed a handful of games with injury.

Tarquin played in three games in 2019 as a true freshman for the Gators, then played in all 10 regular season games in 2020, 12 games (two starts) in 2021 and nine games (eight starts) in 2022. 

His one season at USC, Tarquin played in 11 games and made eight starts, including each of the team’s first seven games.

Ethan Downs

Ethan Downs completed the journey from Weatherford, OK, to the NFL, when he agreed Saturday to sign a free agent contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Matt Zenitz of 247Sports reported Downs’ agreement with the team Saturday night.

In three years as a starting edge rusher in Norman, the 6-4, 265-pound Downs had 12 1/2 quarterback sacks and 32 tackles for loss.

He played 1,833 snaps (37 starts) in his college career, according to Pro Football Focus, and finished with 110 tackles with two fumbles forced, two fumbles recovered and one interception. 

Downs impressed at the combine by running a 4.69 in the 40, recording a 34-inch vertical jump and blasting 32 reps on the bench press — the most among his defensive line peers at the combine.

Downs was a two-time All Big 12 performer for the Sooners.

Trace Ford

Six years in college was a big enough snapshot for Trace Ford to land an NFL free agent contract.

Ford, who played four seasons at Oklahoma State and two at Oklahoma after an all-star career at Santa Fe High School in Edmond, OK, has been signed by the New York Giants.

Ford suffered two major knee injuries with the Cowboys, then transferred to OU in 2023. 

He played in 26 games for the Sooners and made one start at defensive end. In two seasons in Norman, he finished with 40 tackles, 7 1/2 tackles for loss and 1 1/2 sacks. Ford also had two fumbles forced and an interception in Crimson and Cream.

In his college career, he played in 58 games with 16 starts and made 99 tackles, 19 TFLs, 10 sacks, two picks and five forced fumbles.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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