Iowa's Tuesday NFL signees and what they face in trying to stay in the league

First of all, it's tough for any undrafted free agent to make an NFL roster. It's especially hard this year with a shorter training camp after no rookie camp or mini-camps.

But better to have a slim chance than none.

Iowa had some undrafted free agents who signed with NFL teams on Tuesday. Like:

Tight end Allen Reisner, Minnesota Vikings

On paper, the deck's stacked against him. The Vikings have three veteran TEs, and used a second-round draft pick in April to take Notre Dame's Kyle Rudolph.

All three vets, including starter Visanthe Shiancoe, are 30 or over and entering the last year of their contracts. So if the Vikings were to waive Jim Kleinsasser and Jeff Dugan and go with Rudolph No. 2 and Reisner No. 3 ...

Punter Ryan Donahue, Detroit Lions

This is the easiest to handicap. The Lions will have two punters in camp. The incumbent is Nick Harris, a 10-year NFL veteran. Then there is Donahue, a collegiate thunderfoot.

Harris averaged 44.6 yards per punt last season, the second-best average of his career. Donahue will have to be overwhelming to make this team. It's happened before with punters in training camps. But you'd have to say Donahue is an underdog here.

Linebacker Jeremiha Hunter, New Orleans Saints

Veteran LB  Jonathan Vilma is anchored in the middle. Third-round 2011 draftee Martez Wilson of Illinois will probably start out as a strongside LB. Several young LBs are on the roster, vying for playing time. Included is Jonathan Casillas of Wisconsin, who missed all of last season with a foot injury but is highly regarded.

Hunter is a pure outside linebacker. He has his work cut out for him. But if he or any of these Iowa players listed in this post can make a practice squad, they have a foot in the door for the future.

Linebacker Jeff Tarpinian, New England Patriots

"Tarp" is projected as an inside linebacker in the Patriots' 3-4 scheme. I'm not going to pretend to dissect the Patriots' linebacking corps. I'll relay what former Hawkeye/NFL safety Matt Bowen said Tuesday on KGYM-AM's "Balbinot and Brommelkamp" show.

Bowen said Tarpinian was the Iowa UFA (undrafted free agent) who jumped out at him as most likely to have an NFL career of impact because when healthy -- which hasn't been all the time -- he's got the right stuff. Plus, he could be a special teams asset.

Deep snapper Andrew Schulze, Atlanta Falcons

He was Iowa's long snapper for three seasons. I don't recall a single foul-up on his part.

The Falcons' incumbent long snapper is 35-year-old Joe Zelenka, a veteran of 178 NFL games, the last 21 with Atlanta. Does he have a mortal lock on the job? I have no idea, but he must be doing something right.

Safety Brett Greenwood, Pittsburgh Steelers

How about Troy Polamalu and Greenwood as the Steelers' starting safeties? Well, you'd be half-right when the season opens.

The Steelers signed 18 UFAs, but Greenwood was the only safety. They spent a fourth-round draft pick on cornerback Cortez Allen, but didn't draft a safety. They have a veteran crew at that position with Polamalu and Ryan Clark one of the best starting tandems in the league at that position, and vets Ryan Mundy and Will Allen backing them up.

But if Greenwood can make a splash on special teams ...

Wide receiver Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, unsigned

Iowa's all-time leading receiver apparently didn't get signed by anyone on Tuesday.

Training camp opens for 10 teams on Wednesday, with the rest to follow by week's end.