New England Patriots: N’Keal Harry goes down as Belichick’s biggest bust
The New England Patriots have had their troubles with wide receivers over the past few seasons.
Since Julian Edelman retired, the Patriots really haven’t had a true No.1 wide receiver. Last season, the Patriots had a good core of wide receivers in Kendrick Bourne, Jakobi Meyers, and Nelson Agholor.
The Patriots also had N’Keal Harry, who was their former first round pick back in 2019.
N’Keal Harry has been a guy that had so much talent, but it wasn’t being portrayed on the field. He was hurt for the first half of his rookie season in 2019, so the certainly didn’t help. He did a little bit in 2020, but then went back to doing basically nothing in 2021.
A lot of people were speaking loudly about Harry being traded, even a few years ago. Well, the N’Keal Harry era is officially over in New England.
The New England Patriots today traded wide receiver N’Keal Harry to the Chicago Bears, in exchange for a 2024 7th round pick. The trade also saves the Patriots about $1 million in cap space.
At long last, the #Patriots trade former first-rounder N'Keal Harry and it’s the #Bears as his landing spot for a 2024 7th rounder, per me and @MikeGarafolo. A solid upside move for Chicago, while New England moves on with a strong group itself.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 12, 2022
The New England Patriots lost with their draft pick of N’Keal Harry
Look, we as Patriots fans have to face a harsh reality here. The Patriots lost with this draft pick, period. It’s really that simple.
N’Keal Harry was supposed to be a guy that would be a threat inside the red zone with his big frame. But it just never really happened that way for the now former Patriot. We saw it in his first season with Tom Brady. Brady didn’t really trust Harry.
Then again, Tom Brady didn’t trust a lot of young wide receivers. But you get the point!
For those that want to try to defend N’Keal Harry (if anyone at all!), let’s take a look at a few statistics. In 33 career games for the Patriots, he had 57 receptions for 598 yards and only four touchdown receptions. Granted, he never played a full season with the Patriots.
Honestly, it looked like Harry was being used more for blocking during the 2021 season. It’s very clear that N’Keal Harry was slowly being faded out from the Patriots long-term plans anyway. Heck, N’Keal Harry even requested a trade himself nearly a year ago!
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The Patriots lost in the actual trade with the Bears. A 2024 7th round pick for a guy that was a former first round pick. Talk about disgusting! But for the people that look at the glass half-full, at least you got something for Harry!
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The bottom line is that the Patriots will be fine at wide receiver without N’Keal Harry. They have Bourne and Agholor back for their second seasons in the organization. Jakobi Meyer is blossoming into a very reliable receiver for Mac Jones. DeVante Parker is an upgrade. Hopefully, Tyquan Thornton will be good in his first NFL season. So the Patriots will be fine at the wide receiver position.
We wish nothing but the best for N’Keal Harry. Maybe a fresh start is what he needs. But I think everyone can agree that this was a move that needed to be done on both sides. And now, it is finally done!