New England Patriots are stacked at wide receiver

Heading into the offseason the New England Patriots will still be stacked at the wide receiver position.

The New England Patriots are still dealing with their loss at Super Bowl 52. It was a rough night on the defensive side of the ball, but on the offensive side, they played amazing. Patriots fans will be glad to hear that the Patriots will have a lot of receivers returning to the team.

The most obvious one is Julian Edelman. Just imagine what it will be like to have Brandin Cooks and Edelman as your top two receivers. It is going to make it very hard to gameplan for the Patriots. Edelman will continue to be a short to midfield threat who is great at getting open in the middle of the field. Cooks is an amazing deep ball threat who was having his way with the Philadelphia Eagles defense.

Speaking of Cooks he will be back next season in the last year of his contract. The Patriots picked up his fifth-year option before the season started. After struggling to be on the same page with Tom Brady early in the season Cooks ended up having a great season. He had 7 touchdowns and over 1000 yards. With Edelman returning I would expect Cooks to have a better season. He should get more chances to beat defenders with defenses having to focus on Edelman. Also, he was able to build chemistry with Brady which will pay dividends next season.

Also, the Patriots will have Chris Hogan returning to the team. Hogan had to deal with injury issues during the season, but especially in the Super Bowl, he performed exceptionally. For the season he had 34 catches for 459 yards and 5 touchdowns. Now Hogan’s role will diminish with Edelman returning. He will be the third wideout on the depth chart. This may be to his advantage as he will be facing lesser cornerbacks.

Now Phillip Dorsett is also returning, but this season he really was a bust as he only came in due to injuries. He has spectacular speed but didn’t have a big impact this season. Kenny Britt will also have a chance to make the team this summer.

Free Agents

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The Patriots do have a few free agent wideouts but I think its fair to say that they will be back. Danny Amendola is hitting the market coming off a great Super Bowl. He had 61 catches for 659 yards and really had a great season for a beat up wide receiver group. I expect Amendola to be back cause he is loyal to the Patriots after they reinvigorated his career. He also has great relationships with Brady and Edelman. Even if he has to take a pay cut he will come back to New England.

Then there is Matthew Slater, special teams extraordinaire. He should be back because he is a leader in the locker room, and also we know how much Bill Belichick loves special teams. He isn’t going to be looking for a huge contract and New England is his home.

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So the Patriots should have a lot of players returning. That is if they make no moves in free agency. All in all the Patriots should be pretty excited with the group of wide receivers heading into the 2018 season.

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