New England Patriots rumors: Nelson Agholor roster move talk ‘premature’
The New England Patriots suddenly have a problem at the wide receiver position and it’s a good problem. Although the team doesn’t have that one elite target for Mac Jones, they have some capable depth at receiver which could leave Nelson Agholor on the outside looking in.
With the addition of DeVante Parker, second-round pick Tyquan Thornton, the emergence of second-year receiver Tre Nixon along with Kendrick Bourne and Jakobi Meyers, the Patriots suddenly have an interesting decision to make at the position and according to Bleacher Report, cutting Agholor prior to the 2022 season would shed that problem.
In a recent article, B/R points at Agholor’s down year in 2021 as the main reason the Patriots should eat the remainder of the veteran receiver’s contract and simply cut him.
B/R’s Ian Wharton writes:
"“He was excellent in 2020 with the Raiders, producing a career-high 896 yards and an absurd 18.7 yards per catch. He also tied his career high in touchdowns with eight. His speed and ability to create big plays after the catch were supposed to help a Patriots offense that sorely lacked separation ability at the position.”"
Nelson Agholor not a fit in New England Patriots offense, or is he?
Wharton also points at the fact that Mac Jones was one of the worst quarterbacks in the league when it came to the deep pass, which led to Agholor’s down year in which he caught just 37 receptions for 473 years and 3 touchdowns. Along with making room for Thornton to emerge, the release of Agholor would also create $4.9 million in salary cap space.
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However, knowing Bill Belichick, a trade would be more likely if they do decided Agholor is the odd man out. In that scenario, the team would still avoid a $14.9 million cap hit in 2022. But the only thing in the way of either scenario is Nelson Agholor himself as he is making some major noise in joint practices against the Carolina Panthers, looking like the “best receiver on the field.”
Patriots.com writer Evan Lazar feels giving up on Agholor is a bit premature.
"“Trading Agholor feels like a premature move that could create more depth issues than it’s worth for a team that isn’t in a position to be jettisoning NFL talent at the wide receiver position, an area where the Patriots have been searching for years now to find productive players,” Lazar wrote."
Like tight end Jonnu Smith, perhaps what Agholor needs to excel is that second season in the New England Patriots offense and time to build more chemistry with Mac Jones, which he appears to be doing.
As exciting as it would be to see Thornton show off his speed, he could also afford to learn behind a player like Agholor. That’s where I agree with Lazar that the team can’t have enough good wide receivers, especially given the injury history of Parker.
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To conclude, either cutting or trading Nelson Agholor does make sense for financial reasons, but with the veteran receiver trending towards an up season, the New England Patriots may want to wait this one out as now the wide receiver position has become one of the team’s strength areas.