NFL: Tampa Bay Buccaneers sign 6’9 German OL Lorenz Metz as part of NFL International Player Program

| American Football | 04/17/2024

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have signed German offensive lineman Lorenz Metz as an NFL International Pathway Program player. Under the new expanded NFL IPP rules, Metz qualifies as an International player allowing him to be on an NFL team’s practice squad as a 17th member.

The 6’9″, 330 pound Metz hails the small town of Neuötting in Bavaria, Germany.  He did not begin playing football competitively until his late teenage years, but quickly developed into an impact player as a defensive lineman.  He joined the Kirchdorf Wildcats of Bavaria, starting out in the U-19 team before progressing into the senior league.  In the 2017 season in the GFL2, the second-highest league in Germany, he played in 12 games and recorded 48 tackles, six tackles for loss, and one sack playing against grown men.

During his second season with Kirchdorf, he was spotted by Brandon Collier, founder of PPI Recruits, and after participating in a PPI camp, Metz impressed enough that he received his first athletic scholarship offer from the University of Massachusetts. More offers followed, and Metz eventually visited five universities: Central Michigan, Connecticut, Georgia Tech, and Massachusetts before deciding on Cincinnati. Upon arriving on campus in 2018, it was not long before he made the move to the offensive line during his redshirt season, 2019.

He started 13 games on the Bearcats’ offensive line that first season, seeing time at both right and left tackle.  He struggled with penalties that year and was relegated to a backup role for most of 2020.  In 2021, Metz shifted inside to guard, and earned the starting job a couple of games into the season.  He started nine of the last 12 games in the regular season and was named to the American Athletic Conference’s first team as the Bearcats surprisingly made the College Football Playoff.  After battling with an ankle injury for much of 2022, he started the final five games for Cincinnati as the team went 9-4.

Metz worked out with Tampa Bay in February and now will have a chance to make his NFL dreams come true.

Alex is a former NCAA and semi-pro American football player who is now located in London, where he works in digital marketing. His goal in writing for AFI is to stay involved with the game that has given him so much. Alex enjoys covering leagues and