ACC

Getting their NFL chance: Former NC State, Duke players ink free agent deals after draft

N.C. State wide receiver Thayer Thomas (5) breaks free during the second half of N.C. State’s 30-21 victory over Wake Forest at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022.
N.C. State wide receiver Thayer Thomas (5) breaks free during the second half of N.C. State’s 30-21 victory over Wake Forest at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022. ehyman@newsobserver.com

Though they didn’t hear their names called during the three-day, seven-round NFL Draft from Thursday through Saturday, dozens of college players are getting their chance at the league as undrafted free agents.

That includes N.C. State and Duke players, many of whom agreed to deals Saturday night and Sunday morning in the annual post-draft scramble for NFL teams to fill out 90-man rosters for offseason minicamps and this summer’s training camps.

North Carolina, which had four of its players selected in the draft, had no undrafted players who had signed with teams as of Sunday night.

NC State

Here are the Wolfpack players who are heading to the NFL as undrafted free agents:

Christopher Dunn, K (Los Angeles Rams)

Thayer Thomas, WR (Minnesota)

Drake Thomas, LB (Las Vegas)

Derreck Pitts, CB (Tampa Bay)

Tanner Ingle, S (Los Angeles Rams)

Tyler Baker-Williams, S (Los Angeles Chargers)

Isaiah Moore, LB (Kansas City)

Duke

Here are the Blue Devils players who are heading to the NFL as undrafted free agents:

Evan Deckers, LS (Tampa Bay)

Shaka Heyward, LB (Cincinnati)

Darius Joiner, S (Houston)

Steve Wiseman
The News & Observer
Steve Wiseman was named Raleigh News & Observer and Durham Herald-Sun sports editor in May 2025. He covered Duke athletics, beginning in 2010, prior to his current assignment. In the Associated Press Sports Editors national contest, he placed in the top 10 in beat writing in 2019, 2021 and 2022, breaking news in 2019, event coverage in 2025 and explanatory writing in 2018. Before coming to Durham in 2010, Steve worked for The State (Columbia, SC), Herald-Journal (Spartanburg, S.C.), The Sun Herald (Biloxi, Miss.), Charlotte Observer and Hickory (NC) Daily Record covering beats including the NFL’s Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints, University of South Carolina athletics and the S.C. General Assembly. He’s won numerous state-level press association awards. Steve graduated from Illinois State University in 1989. 
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