The New England Patriots will soon have a surplus of wide receivers after being shallow at the position Monday night.
The Patriots reportedly traded a second-round pick to the Atlanta Falcons for wide receiver Mohamed Sanu. First-round pick N’Keal Harry also is eligible to return off of injured reserve next week.
The Patriots will have Sanu, Julian Edelman, Phillip Dorsett, Jakobi Meyers and Gunner Olszewski available to them in the short term. Josh Gordon will be added into the mix when he returns from knee and ankle injuries, and Harry can join the group in a week. Special-teamer Matthew Slater also has taken reps at wide receiver this season.
That seemingly is one too many bodies at the position. The Patriots briefly had eight wide receivers earlier in the season when they signed Antonio Brown, but they made space by trading wideout Demaryius Thomas to the New York Jets.
So, someone could be on the outside looking in at the position when Harry is eligible to return. The Patriots could elect not to activate Harry, but that would be a waste of one of their injured reserve return designations since the rookie already has started practicing.
A more obvious move would be to cut or trade one of their undrafted rookies, Meyers or Olszewski. It’s clear the Patriots like both players, however, and Meyers and Olszewski have been productive early in the season. Meyers caught five passes on five targets for 47 yards Monday night in the Patriots’ 33-0 win over the Jets. He also drew two third-down penalty flags that helped move the chains. Olszewski has been the team’s top punt returner while playing through hamstring injuries.
Another possibility for the Patriots would be to put Gordon on injured reserve, but that seems unlikely because his knee injury does not seem that severe, and they likely would not be able to bring the veteran receiver off of the list. Left tackle Isaiah Wynn is the top candidate to return off of injured reserve after Harry.
The Patriots paid a significant price for Sanu by giving up a second-round pick to the Falcons, but he’s under contract for next season and New England has long liked him. Sanu primarily has played in the slot during his seven-year NFL career. He’s big for the position at 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, but he’s also been productive and efficient. He’s played 84.4 percent of his snaps this season from the slot. He’s caught 81.3 percent of his targets from that inside role.
Julian Edelman has played 65.2 percent of his snaps from the slot this season. He usually evenly splits his time between the outside and inside roles. If Sanu comes in and plays the slot, then Edelman could see more time at the “Z” receiver position.
Sanu is a good player. The 30-year-old receiver has 33 catches for 313 yards with one touchdown so far this season. He’s not a guaranteed starter when everyone is healthy in the Patriots’ receiving corps, however. Starting Sanu would bump Gordon or Dorsett out of a top role. He’s also new to the offense and must learn a new system on the fly. Sanu definitely serves as key depth, however, in case Edelman, Dorsett, Gordon or Harry go down. All four players already have been banged up this season, and they very easily could go down again.
The Patriots had to count on Olszewski as their No. 3 receiver in Week 6 against the New York Giants. They’d prefer to stay away from that scenario in the future, and acquiring Sanu essentially ensures it.
New England’s offense has struggled this season despite their undefeated 7-0 record. Sanu won’t provide an Antonio Brown-level jolt, but he also doesn’t bring any headaches. Sanu should give the offense a bump, and the acquisition protects the Patriots in case of injuries. It’s also done with an eye toward the future since Sanu is signed through the 2020 season.
