Nearly a month into NFL free agency, the New England Patriots’ receiving corps remains a work in progress.
Since Super Bowl LIII, the Patriots have lost Cordarrelle Patterson, re-signed Phillip Dorsett, struck out on attempts to land Adam Humphries, Cole Beasley and Golden Tate, and settled for two low-level signings in Bruce Ellington and Maurice Harris. Chris Hogan also remains unsigned after hitting free agency last month.
Dorsett, Ellington and Harris join Julian Edelman, Braxton Berrios, Damoun Patterson and special teamer Matthew Slater on a depth chart that doesn’t exactly strike fear into the heart of opposing secondaries.
The Patriots are likely to address this need through the 2019 NFL Draft — in which they currently own 12 selections, including six in the first three rounds — but one receiver who could provide a bit of a boost hit the open market Thursday.
That would be Seth Roberts, who, according to multiple reports, was released by the Oakland Raiders as Jon Gruden’s club continued to overhaul its collection of wideouts.
Roberts, 28, is no game-breaker, but he was a consistent contributor during his five seasons with the Raiders.
After spending his rookie year on Oakland’s practice squad, the undrafted West Alabama product tallied between 32 and 45 catches and between 397 and 494 receiving yards in each of the next four seasons, totaling 13 touchdowns during that span. He’s also remained largely healthy, missing just two games in his career.
Roberts wouldn’t be guaranteed a roster spot if he joined the Patriots, but he’d be an affordable option with considerable slot experience (440 of his 569 snaps last season were inside, per Pro Football Focus) who could compete with likes of Ellington, Harris and Berrios.
At 6-foot-2, 195 pounds, Roberts is similar in size to Harris (6-3, 200), who came over from the Washington Redskins. Berrios (5-9, 190) and Ellington (5-9, 200) are traditional smaller slots, as is Edelman (5-10, 198), the only locked-in starter in the Patriots’ current receiving corps.
