New England Patriots: Why N’Keal Harry will be a special talent
New England Patriots first-round pick N’Keal Harry has agreed to a four-year deal worth $10.1 million with the team Tuesday launching his career with the defending Super Bowl champs.
According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo Tuesday, the New England Patriots and first-round pick N’Keal Harry have agreed to terms on a four-year deal worth $10.1 million with a $5.3 million signing bonus.
The deal also includes a fifth-year team option, which is the benefit of drafting Harry at No. 32 in the first round rather than hoping he slipped to the second round.
In locking up the Arizona State product to his rookie deal early, it really shows how committed the big wide receiver is to get to work with his new team. As much as the tears of joy showered Harry’s happiness on draft day when he found out the Patriots selected him, the sweat of hard work is now in store for a player who has a shot at really making an impact in his rookie season.
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Similar to Sony Michel, who was selected last in the first-round in 2018, N’Keal Harry is expected to make a contribution in his rookie year. Given his size (6-foot-2, 228 pounds) and athletic ability, he represents the most talented receiver Bill Belichick has drafted and there is a reason for that.
In totaling two consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons at Arizona State, Harry showcased an ability to win battles against defenders with the ball in the air and is also hard to take down.
With Rob Gronkowski now enjoying retirement, giving Tom Brady a big target on the outside like N’Keal Harry should benefit both an aging quarterback and a young player with the potential to be great in the NFL.
Along with the opportunity to grow catching the ball and learning the system from Brady, Harry will also benefit learning from veteran receivers like Julian Edelman, Demaryius Thomas, Dontrelle Inman and Josh Gordon if he is reinstated.
The next Larry Fitzgerald?
In all, Harry has the ability to be an impactful receiver for the New England Patriots sooner rather than later depending on his dedication and work ethic. Both size and skillset wise, the first-round selection has drawn comparisons to Dez Bryant and Anquan Boldin, but the biggest complimentary comparison is to that of one Larry Fitzgerald.
Yes, the same Larry Fitzgerald who has been rumored in deals with the Patriots over the last few seasons.
NFL Network analyst David Carr made the comparison for this reason:
"“When you watch the tape on this guy when he was at Arizona State, he’s an incredible wide receiver. I looked at it and said ‘That’s Larry Fitzgerald all over again. Then he goes and runs 4.5 (seconds in the 40-yard dash), so he ran even faster than Larry did when he came out of college. So, it’s all there. You can see why Belichick went out there and grabbed him.”"
As any Patriots fan knows, speed and size alone doesn’t translate to success in New England, it is how much work that player puts in to both learn the system and earn trust from Tom Brady. He also provides the type of physicality at the position the team has been lacking for quite a while.
New England Patriots: Team bulking up at wide receiver. dark. Next
In summary, N’Keal Harry is going to be a special player once he puts everything together with the Patriots. Just the mere fact Belichick went out and drafted him in the first round says a lot as to how the future Hall-of-Fame quarterback views him as a person and most importantly, as a football player.
Let the era of N’Keal Harry begin.