There are some major question marks surrounding the Patriots’ tight end depth. As a result, it appears New England might be making strides in bolstering its personnel at the position.
The Patriots already have cut ties with Martellus Bennett, and Rob Gronkowski still has yet to confirm whether he’ll be playing in the 2018 season. In the wake of this uncertainty, New England reportedly could meet with arguably the best tight end available on the open market.
Ebron never lived up to expectations after being selected No. 10 overall by the Detroit Lions in the 2014 NFL Draft. The 6-foot-4 tight end has above-average pass-catching abilities, but he never seemed to find a rhythm within the Lions’ offense, only catching 11 touchdowns over the course of four seasons.
That said, pairing Ebron with Gronkowski would make for quite the tight end tandem for the Patriots’ offense. New England still has Dwayne Allen on its roster, but the former Indianapolis Colt wasn’t much of a pass-catching threat in his first season with the Pats, instead thriving more as a blocker. Ebron most certainly isn’t known for his blocking, but adding another big target to Tom Brady’s arsenal of weapons wouldn’t hurt.
But judging from Schefter’s initial report on Ebron’s free-agent meetings, it sounds like the Patriots will have stiff competition in trying to reel in the 24-year-old.
