Will Patriots Sign This Highly Drafted Wideout To 53-Man Roster?

Practice squad wide receiver Jalen Reagor had a substantial role in the Patriots’ offense in each of New England’s last two games.

If Bill Belichick and company want that trend to continue, they’ll need to make a roster move this week.

NFL practice squad players are allowed three gameday elevations apiece. After three, the team cannot make that player active for a game unless it either officially signs him to the 53-man roster or releases him from the P-squad and then re-signs him.

The Patriots used Reagor’s third and final elevation Sunday, putting him on the field for a season-high 25 offensive snaps in their 29-25 victory over the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium. He caught his lone target for 11 yards and saw significantly more playing time than 2022 second-round draft pick Tyquan Thornton, who logged just three snaps in the win.

Reagor also played 14 snaps the previous week in a loss to the Las Vegas Raiders and dressed but did not play against the Miami Dolphins in Week 2.

“Jalen has done a good job with the opportunities he’s had,” head coach Bill Belichick said Monday in a video conference. “We’re trying to get all our skill players in the game and give them an opportunity to make some plays.”

The Patriots have enough bodies in their receiving corps that they don’t need Reagor, a 2020 first-round draft bust who’s looking to revive his career after inauspicious stints with Philadelphia and Minnesota. But they seem to prefer him over some of their other options.

The 24-year-old TCU product appears to be higher on the depth chart than sixth-round rookie Kayshon Boutte, who has not played since Week 1. We mentioned Sunday’s snap-count disparity between Reagor and Thornton, who has two catches for 8 yards over two games since returning from injured reserve. And Reagor even ate into DeVante Parker’s workload against Buffalo.

Parker played 10 more snaps than Reagor on Sunday, but his 58% snap rate was his lowest of the season and the third-lowest of his Patriots tenure, excluding games he exited due to injury.

Months after signing a three-year contract extension, the big-bodied perimeter receiver has been a nonfactor in most games this season, totaling two catches for 15 yards over his last two and eight for 87 yards over his last five. He hasn’t caught a touchdown pass since the 2022 season finale and has been far less effective than Kendrick Bourne and rookie Demario Douglas, who both had more prominent roles in the Buffalo game plan.

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JuJu Smith-Schuster’s impending return will impact the Patriots’ receiver rep distribution, but by how much? He was providing little value to the offense even before the concussion that sidelined him for the last two weeks. New England’s marquee free agent addition has 14 catches on 25 targets for 86 yards in five games this season.

Unless Smith-Schuster magically regained his conspicuously absent explosiveness during his two-week layoff, the Patriots cannot justify playing him over the far more impressive Douglas in the slot.

Athletic undrafted rookie Malik Cunningham also is in the mix, but any contributions he makes likely will come as a gadget-play quarterback. He was a healthy scratch against the Bills after surprisingly serving as the primary backup QB in Week 7.

How the Patriots handle Reagor’s status ahead of Sunday’s road matchup with the Miami Dolphins will say a lot about how they view both him and the rest of their receiving corps.