The New England Patriots made their first free-agent signing in a month Thursday when they added oft-injured wide receiver Marqise Lee.
It’s a nice low-risk, one-year signing for a veteran wide receiver who was a starting-caliber player as recently as 2017. There’s an equal chance he turns into the next Brandon LaFell or Dontrelle Inman. For that reason, the addition should be looked at as a net-zero. It doesn’t affect New England’s need at wide receiver whatsoever and the team should still be looking to draft a wide receiver this weekend.
The Patriots currently have Lee, Julian Edelman, Mohamed Sanu, N’Keal Harry, Jakobi Meyers, Damiere Byrd, Gunner Olszewski, Quincy Adeboyejo and Devin Ross on their wide receiver depth chart. They could probably get by with that group, but why not fill out the depth and competition by drafting a receiver or two, as well?
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It’s a good year to take select pass-catchers. The 2020 wide receiver class is absolutely loaded with talent. Teams still could be taking Year 1 starters as late as the third round. Players like Ceedee Lamb, Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs III should be gone by the time the Patriots pick at 23rd overall, but they should have a shot at first-round talents like Denzel Mims, Justin Jefferson, Jalen Reagor and Brandon Aiyuk. The best fits in the early-to-mid rounds are USC’s Michael Pittman, Notre Dame’s Chase Claypool, Kentucky’s Lynn Bowden Jr. and South Carolina’s Bryan Edwards.
The Patriots just took Harry in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft, but that also shouldn’t preclude New England from taking another wide receiver high in this year’s draft. The Patriots have had terrible luck at the position in recent years.
New England became desperate in 2018 after Jordan Matthews, Kenny Britt, Eric Decker, Braxton Berrios and a number of other players didn’t work out. The team was shallow again in 2019 when Inman, Berrios, Maurice Harris, Antonio Brown, Demaryius Thomas and Josh Gordon all fizzled out. So, the Patriots should add as many bodies as humanly possible before the 2020 season to make sure at least a few can stick for Jarrett Stidham, Brian Hoyer or a rookie quarterback.
