Three former Tulane Green Wave players have an uphill battle to make a roster after not being selected in the NFL draft.
The Tulane Green Wave football team went to the College Football Playoff last season, but mystifyingly, didn’t have a single player drafted in the 2026 NFL draft. It was the first time since 2022 that the Green Wave didn’t have a player selected in the seven rounds, after the team went 2-10 during a season affected by Hurricane Ida. The team had a lot of younger talent that paved the way to a historic season, and that was illustrated in the thinner draft. However, Tulane had three players find potential homes following the draft.
Defensive back KC Eziomume was the only player to be signed in undrafted free agency with the Chicago Bears. Two players got camp invites: quarterback Jake Retzlaff with the Seattle Seahawks, and defensive end Kam Hamilton with the New Orleans Saints locally.
Eziomume only spent one season with the Green Wave and was primarily a backup for Jahiem Johnson at boundary corner, appearing in seven games and recording one pass breakup. He previously spent three years in the FCS. Eziomume played two years at Alabama A&M where he totaled 23 tackles and nine pass breakups, and one season at Albany where he played in 11 games and defended six passes before transferring to Tulane. He had a strong pro day with speed in the 40-yd dash and the short shuttle.
Retzlaff and Hamilton have a little more difficult path to the league. As an undrafted free agent, Eziomume signed a contract that gives a team a bit more investment in a player than one invited to camp without a contract signed. However, it’s an opportunity, and both went to solid potential landing spots.
Retzlaff received a camp invite from the reigning Super Bowl champs, ones who were led by quarterback Sam Darnold, a former No. 1 overall pick who was thought of as damaged goods for a while until he found his way with the San Francisco 49ers and became a starter for the Minnesota Vikings for one season before heading to the Seahawks. There’s certainly a chip on the shoulder there that Retzlaff also has. Teams will often carry a fourth quarterback on their practice squads, with the team already having Drew Lock as a backup and 2025 third round pick Jalen Milroe as QB3.
Then Hamilton gets a chance with a local team, one who is more familiar with him than arguably any other NFL team. There’s an advantage there with “local” draft eligible-players, as teams are allowed to scout from colleges that are within a 50-mile radius of their team without it counting towards their 30 pre-draft visits, and they also host a local pro day to get an additional look at some guys. It’s not clear whether Hamilton participated in that, as he was unable to participate in Tulane’s local pro day due to injury.
It’s an uphill battle for all three players; there’s no way around that. However, some undrafted free agents often stick. Former corner Johnathan Edwards was the only Indianapolis Colt to make the 53-man roster as an undrafted free agent. A lot of it is about the work on the field, but there’s definitely an attitude to attack this process with that this Green Wave trio hopefully strengthened and solidified in their time with the program to put up a fight for a roster spot.