Cordarrelle Patterson is returning to the Atlanta Falcons for the 2022 season, and a reunion with the New England Patriots apparently never was in the cards.
The versatile offensive player on Saturday refuted a report from CLNS Media’s Evan Lazar, who said the Patriots spoke with the free agent about coming back to the franchise.
“The Patriots had some discussions with Cordarrelle Patterson about a reunion, per a league source,” Lazar wrote Saturday. “But stop me if you heard this before: they wouldn’t compete with the money Patterson got from the Falcons.”
Patterson promptly fired off a tweet in response:
“No they did not!!!” he responded.
It’s unclear whether Patterson was denying the Patriots reached out to him at all, or if their offer could not compete with what the Falcons handed him. Patterson re-signed with Atlanta on Saturday, inking a two-year, $10.5 million contract.
Lazar’s tweet was deleted shortly after Patterson responded, which could suggest Patterson was denying the Patriots’ interest, though a follow-up tweet from the 2018 Super Bowl champion made it sound like he had his heart set on Atlanta the whole time.
“F the money!” Patterson wrote. “(Atlanta) was (where) I wanted to be at the end of the day!!!”
Patterson has spoken highly of his career in New England. In October, Patterson told Doug Kyed of Pro Football Focus that he learned a lot from what he noted was a focus on winning throughout the organization.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter if the Patriots were interested in Patterson or not, since he seems happy to be back with the Falcons.
