Jakobi Meyers not re-signing with the Patriots was one of the more surprising moves of the offseason for New England, and the decision reportedly was not met well internally.
Retired safety Devin McCourty admitted he was “shocked” to see the four-year wide receiver leave the Pats to sign with the Las Vegas Raiders, and multiple players expressed their support for the 26-year-old wideout.
The Patriots appeared to not seriously attempt to bring back a player who had been growing as a locker room presence, but instead, they signed JuJu Smith-Schuster as his replacement. The former Kansas City Chiefs’ deal was similar to Meyers’ on the surface, but later details revealed it was more of a discount for New England, while also a player-friendly deal.
NFL Media’s Mike Giardi spoke with one Patriots player who was mystified over the decision to let Meyers walk away, and he added more details on Friday’s “Arbella Early Edition” with Tom E. Curran.
“Universally panned by everyone I talked to,” Giardi said, per NBC Sports Boston’s Justin Leger. “And some people offered their comments to me — players — without me prompting them. I just got a text.
“The idea that you reward one of your own who came from undrafted free agency, built himself up, and when you go back two years ago in the Josh McDaniels offense, caught 83 passes. And actually, even go back a year before where I think 57 of his 58 catches came in the final 10, 11 weeks of the season when they said, ‘We gotta roll this guy out there, we gotta trust his instincts to play football.'”
The Raiders didn’t break the bank in their deal with Meyers, but it appeared the Patriots wanted to go in a different direction.
Meyers initially had an eyebrow-raising reaction to the Patriots’ deal with Smith-Schuster, but he later admitted it was a “childish” reaction and expressed his thanks to the New England organization as he moves on with Las Vegas.
