New England Patriots: Ranking top 5 veteran free agent signings in 2020
No. 2 Marquise Lee -WR
The New England Patriots didn’t upgrade the wide receiver position in the conventional way.
In fact, they didn’t do much at the position at all in free agency or the draft. That means a lot of trust is going into the development of 2019 first-round pick N’Keal Harry and second-year player Jakobi Meyers.
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The hope is those players will develop behind the veteran leadership of both Julian Edelman and Mohamed Sanu. Thrown in the mix there is both Damiere Byrd and 28-year-old veteran wide receiver Marqise Lee.
Signed to a one-year deal just prior to the 2020 NFL Draft, Lee is one of those low-risk, high-reward signings Bill Belichick is famous for.
The former second-round pick is coming off a couple injury-plagued seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars but did have some productive seasons when health.
In 2016, he caught 63 passes for 851 yards and 3 touchdowns. He followed that up in 2017 with 56 receptions for 702 yards and 3 touchdowns with Blake Bortles as his quarterback. If healthy in 2020, those are numbers he should add to the New England Patriots.
On paper, Marqise Lee is certainly an upgrade over Phillip Dorsett if he returns to the player he was in 2016 and 2017. He could easily turn out to be the top signing of 2020 when all is said and done.