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This week, former Troy Trojan Jake Andrews officially signed his contract with the New England Patriots.

Andrews was drafted in the fourth round by the Patriots in the 2023 NFL Draft back in April, as the 107th overall pick. The 6-foot-3-inch, 305-pound All-Sun Belt center was announced as having officially signed with the Patriots on May 24. While the Patriots did not publically announce the details of the contract, ESPN’s Mike Reiss reported that Andrews’ deal was for four years and $4.648 million.

Andrews is the second former Trojan to be drafted – and sign with – the Patriots in the past two seasons after New England drafted cornerback Marcus Jones last season. Jones went on to become an All-Pro kick returner for the Patriots in his rookie season. Andrews and Jones played together at Troy during the 2018 season before Jones transferred to Houston.

Andrews took part in the Patriots’ rookie mini camp earlier this month. He told Patriots.com that he was actually somewhat familiar with the Patriots offense due to former Troy offensive line coach Cole Popovich, who worked with the Patriots for five seasons before coming to Troy.

“We watched a lot of Patriots film, and he talked about them all the time,” Andrews said. “He used a lot of good examples from a lot of great players that have come through there that he had plenty of time with, which he made examples out of that for us.

“He gave us insight into what it means to be great and what it means to be a Patriot in general. He tried to mold us into that in the best way he could, so yes, a lot of experience he tried to implement into us from the Patriots.”