Is New England Patriots Wide Reciever Just Trade Bait
Last year Kendrick Bourne was a versatile and consistent player for the New England Patriot’s mid-tier offense. He was one of only two players to gain over 1,000 yards from scrimmage on the Patriots offense (Damien Harris was the other), catching 55 balls for 800 yards and five touchdowns.
He rushed 13 times for 139 yards and THREW a 25-yard touchdown pass in week seven against the lowly New York Jets. He seemed like a shoo-in to be one of the main contributors for this year’s offense after setting career marks last year. Now there are talks of trading him around the league and even mentioning the possibility of him being cut. So, what happened?
Is Kendrick Bourne Going To Be Cut Or Traded?
That’s the question. At this point, a trade feels unlikely as he did suit up Friday for the Patriot’s final preseason game against the Los Vegas Raiders. People have been unsure of the future of Kendrick Bourne’s career as a Patriot for the last couple of weeks, basically since he was involved in a skirmish during practice and subsequently ejected from said practice.
He had appeared to be in the Belichick doghouse, and the league was buzzing with talk of a possible trade for the young talented wide receiver. Unfortunately, he had also apparently infuriated Bill with an equipment issue, and to make things worse, he had missed a couple of practices and even a game, with no real explanation from either him or the coaching staff.
After getting the start on Friday and catching two passes on three targets for 16 yards, Kendrick Bourne may still have a sizeable role on the offense for the upcoming NFL season. It wasn’t a great stat line, but it’s still a promising indication that Bill Belichick has regained some trust in his young player. Of course, it wouldn’t be prevalent or smart for Belichick to cut the wide receiver, so until the right trade offer is on the table, it seems at the very least that Bill may try to make use of his young talent in Bourne, and for now we should be expecting him to take the field come opening day.
It’s also possible that Belichick is simply showing off the goods and giving Kendrick playing time to show that he’s a young and capable receiving talent to pressure teams to inquire more about what it would take to acquire him. It’s hard to know with Bill Belichick. Sometimes I wonder if he even really knows anymore.
The New England Patriot’s Wide Receiver Room
The Patriot’s wide receiver room has taken a devastating hit this offseason in the injury of rookie Tyquan Thornton who will start this season on the NFL’s injured reserve list and is set to miss up to ten weeks with a collarbone injury. There is a lot of depth in the receiver room. Still, given that one player is already injured and set to miss a significant amount of regular season action, it doesn’t make much sense for Belichick to be trading his receivers away. He would, however, if the offer was right, as there are always plenty of viable candidates waiting for their chance somewhere.
One such player who has been waiting patiently for an opportunity to get some serious playing time at wide receiver is that Patriots Lil’ Jordan Humphrey, an ex-New Orleans Saint and a top five best name from throughout the NFL. Another player the Patriots may pursue as a possible wide receiver depth piece is of ex-Chicago Bears wide receiver Dazz Newsome who is set to work out with the Patriots on Sunday, the 28th, shortly before the start of the 2022 NFL regular season.
Pats @ Miami
The New England Patriots are set to take the field on September 11th at 1 PM on the road against the Miami Dolphins. It’s likely the guys starting that game at wide receiver are the guys we think they will be now. However, there’s always the possibility of a trade at any second, right around the corner. So I feel we might end up with a couple of surprises this year when the Patriots take the field for the first time. Hopefully, it’s for the better. Go Pats.
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