Patriots free agency grades: Wide receivers still need improvement

The New England Patriots were in dire need of wide receivers after a 2020 season in which their leading receiver, Jakobi Meyers caught 59 passes.

Sorry, but that wasn’t going to cut the mustard. So Bill Belichick dove in early and signed two receivers. They were Nelson Agholor, formerly of the Raiders, and Kendrick Bourne from the 49ers. A previous article lauded his aggressiveness. But how well did they really do?

The reviews have been mixed and now that the initial euphoria of a whirlwind of signings has calmed down, we can take a hard look at the two receivers who are hopefully going to remedy the Patriots’ pitiful situation in 2020, when no one caught much of anything.

Nelson Agholor, deep threat for the New England Patriots

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Nelson Agholor who’ll be 28 in May is the more known and recognized of the two receivers brought in by head honcho Bill Belichick. Last season with the Las Vegas Raiders he caught 48 passes with 8 TDs and 896 yards.

That’s a decent season, but certainly, nothing to write home about. Agholor is not a No. 1 receiver by any stretch of the imagination. And that’s exactly what the Patriots needed in this free agency period. They didn’t get one.

Agholor’s top production was 64 receptions in 2018 with Philadelphia. Again, not earth-shattering numbers. So while Belichick spent significant money on the player, the question is was he worth the investment?

Spotrac notes Agholor’s contract as follows,

"Nelson Agholor signed a 2 year, $22,000,000 contract with the New England Patriots, including a $10,000,000 signing bonus, $16,000,000 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $11,000,000. In 2021, Agholor will earn a base salary of $1,000,000, a signing bonus of $10,000,000 and a roster bonus of $1,000,000, while carrying a cap hit of $7,000,000 and a dead cap value of $16,000,000."

That’s a pretty sizable amount for a receiver who at best can only be termed a decent player. It will be interesting to see if Agholor can even repeat his production from Las Vegas in New England. Assuming he can, is even that production worth an $11M salary?

That’s a valid question. And it will be addressed later in a brief discussion on an alternative that New England might have pursued with a different strategy. For now, let’s just say, it’s a debatable acquisition.

Kendrick Bourne, Patriots new slot receiver?

The second receiver that Belichick signed was not a household name by any means, Kendrick Bourne who’ll be 26 in August from the 49ers. Bourne’s statistics also underwhelm.

Last season in San Francisco he racked up 49 catches along with two touchdowns and 667 yards. Spotrac has Bourne’s salary this way,

"Kendrick Bourne signed a 3 year, $15,000,000 contract with the New England Patriots, including a $4,250,000 signing bonus, $5,250,000 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $5,000,000. In 2021, Bourne will earn a base salary of $1,000,000, a signing bonus of $4,250,000 and a roster bonus of $703,125, while carrying a cap hit of $3,119,791 and a dead cap value of $5,250,000."

The guarantees of $5M are much more modest compared to Agholor’s $16M guaranteed. But for two receivers with a combined catch total of 97 catches and 10 TD’s is that production worth a $10M cap hit?

Another option and the Grade

Objectively, one would have to again say, it’s debatable. Might there have been a single receiver available to New England who may have had a similar cap number or perhaps somewhat more who by himself could have outproduced the two receivers they brought in?

One who comes to mind is JuJu Smith-Schuster, the great Pittsburgh receiver who has just re-signed with the Steelers. His contract according to NFL.com,

"NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported that the 1-year contract is worth $8 million, per a source informed of the situation. Rapoport added that Smith-Schuster had better offers from the Ravens and Chiefs but elected to stick it out."

Smith-Schuster himself caught the same number of passes in 2020 as Agholor and Bourne combined, 97 passes with 9 TD’s but fewer yards with 897 yards.

No doubt in this writer’s mind, if the Patriots had put even more than $10M on the table and landed Smith-Schuster, they would have fared far better. He’s just clearly a far better player and a far more valuable option than the two receivers they obtained.

The Grade

So, how to grade the two acquisitions the Patriots did make. Obviously, it is yet to be seen how the two will perform in the blue, red, silver, and white of New England. Clearly, neither is a superstar or even a star and 1000 receiving yards from either is a pipe-dream.

dark. Next. New England Patriots straight up stole David Andrews

Both are serviceable receivers and frankly really not much to get excited about. The only consolation, they are probably better than the crew wheeled out by New England last season. But that’s not saying much. Not much at all.

So, the verdict and grade dished out is C+. They are OK but nothing special and the plus (+) goes to the grade because virtually any free agent would be better than most of New England’s awful receiving corps (without Julian Edelman) in 2020.

What is your grade on these receivers?

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