Yahoo – The New England Patriots have a new tight end from Germany. The Patriots have added Jakob Johnson to their organization as part of the NFL’s International Pathway Program. According to Mark Daniels of the Providence Journal, “if Johnson doesn’t make the Patriots 53-man roster, he’ll be granted an extra 11th spot on the team’s practice squad, but not eligible to be promoted.”

Johnson played tight end for the Stuttgart Scorpions in Germany last season. He tallied 43 receptions for 474 yards and four touchdowns, in addition to 12 tackles for the Scorpions in 2018. He’s listed at 6-foot-5 and 285 pounds.

Johnson played college football at the University of Tennessee from 2014 to 2017. He showed some impressive versatility with the Volunteers, playing tight end, defensive line and offensive line. We know Patriots head coach Bill Belichick values players who can fill multiple roles/positions.

Herzlichen Glückwunsch, indeed.

Herzlichen Glückwunsch: Das deutsche Nachwuchstalent @JohnsonJakob hat einen Platz im Practice Squad der @patsdeutsch ergattert! 🇩🇪🇩🇪🇩🇪

Mehr Infos 👉 https://t.co/Bnt3xc9prV pic.twitter.com/F6JJwMrUaw

— NFL Deutschland (@NFLDeutschland) April 8, 2019

In what I will from here on out refer to as a Post Gronk world, the Patriots are suddenly thin as a triscuit at tight end. Maybe they saw the success the Celtics have had importing Daniel Theis AKA The Daniel Wall from the Deutschland. The Patriots have had some success dipping into Germany before though, most notably when they signed Sebastian Vollmer completely out of nowhere and the guy went on to become a stud. Unrelated, but should be noted, Seabass is now dabbling as sports commentator and is also chiseled from marble.

Earlier this month, @SebVollmer & @themarkuskuhn called the first regular season game broadcasted live to Germany from an NFL stadium.

But first, they caught up with some former #Patriots teammates. pic.twitter.com/TiVZHPt1QE

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) December 11, 2018

Rough life for Sebastian these days.

So a closer look at Jakob Johnson, who is the prime hybrid prototype that Belichick loves so much, having played TE, DL, and OL at Tennessee. He is definitely not Gronk though. In fact he’s more like an extra lineman because he only caught 3 passes for 23 yards in 17 games over parts of 4 seasons at Tennessee. He also recorded 14 tackles in that same time. So not a lot of catches, but he did make the SEC Academic Honor Roll three times!

Last season he went over to Germany to play for his hometown Stuttgart Scorpions where he Balled. Out. Johnson had 43 receptions for 474 yards and four touchdowns so its not like the kid can’t catch, it seems like they just didn’t utilize him much as a receiver in college. Hey, Belichick turned a college wrestler into a 3x Super Bowl champ offensive lineman in Stephen Neal so I have faith Bill can make something of this kid too.

This has been your NFL Euro Offseason Report.