One of the bigger stories of the free agency period has been the way the New England Patriots opened up their checkbook to bring in a lot of top dollar players. It doesn't really fit the profile of the way they built their dynasty, and it's fair to wonder if it will pay off.
Nowhere is this new strategy more apparent than at receiver, both wideouts and tight ends. In the last two drafts New England has used picks in the first three rounds on N'Keal Harry, Dalton Keene and Devin Asiasi. But Harry has flopped and Keene and Asiasi could barely get on the field as rookies. So the Patriots, it seems, have already turned the page on those players.
Right at the start of free agency, New England handed out sizable contracts to Nelson Agholor, Hunter Henry, Jonnu Smith and Kendrick Bourne. Three of those players are making an average of $11 million per year. There are 26 pass catchers in the league making that much money, and New England has three of them. It's also fair to say that if you looked at all of those high-priced receivers and said which ones don't belong (based on career performance to this point), New England would now have most of the ones you'd pick out. (Salary info from overthecap.com.)
| RECEIVER CONTRACTS, AVG/YEAR | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Pos | Team | Avg./Year |
| DeAndre Hopkins | WR | Cardinals | $27,250,000 |
| Julio Jones | WR | Falcons | $22,000,000 |
| Keenan Allen | WR | Chargers | $20,025,000 |
| Amari Cooper | WR | Cowboys | $20,000,000 |
| Michael Thomas | WR | Saints | $19,250,000 |
| Odell Beckham Jr. | WR | Browns | $18,000,000 |
| Kenny Golladay | WR | Giants | $18,000,000 |
| Tyreek Hill | WR | Kansas City | $18,000,000 |
| Allen Robinson | WR | Bears | $17,980,000 |
| Tyler Lockett | WR | Seahawks | $17,250,000 |
| Mike Evans | WR | Buccaneers | $16,500,000 |
| Robert Woods | WR | Rams | $16,250,000 |
| Brandin Cooks | WR | Texans | $16,200,000 |
| Adam Thielen | WR | Vikings | $16,200,000 |
| Chris Godwin | WR | Buccaneers | $15,983,000 |
| Cooper Kupp | WR | Rams | $15,750,000 |
| Jarvis Landry | WR | Browns | $15,100,000 |
| George Kittle | TE | 49ers | $15,000,000 |
| Davante Adams | WR | Packers | $14,500,000 |
| Stefon Diggs | WR | Bills | $14,400,000 |
| Travis Kelce | TE | Kansas City | $14,312,500 |
| Corey Davis | WR | Jets | $12,500,000 |
| Jonnu Smith | TE | Patriots | $12,500,000 |
| Hunter Henry | TE | Patriots | $12,500,000 |
| Curtis Samuel | WR | Washington | $11,500,000 |
| Nelson Agholor | WR | Patriots | $11,000,000 |
| Tyler Boyd | WR | Bengals | $10,750,000 |
| Will Fuller | WR | Dolphins | $10,625,000 |
| Austin Hooper | TE | Browns | $10,500,000 |
| Sterling Shepard | WR | Giants | $10,250,000 |
| DeVante Parker | WR | Dolphins | $10,166,667 |
| Robby Anderson | WR | Panthers | $10,000,000 |
| Jamison Crowder | WR | Jets | $9,500,000 |
| Randall Cobb | WR | Texans | $9,000,000 |
| Zach Ertz | TE | Eagles | $8,500,000 |
| Jimmy Graham | TE | Bears | $8,000,000 |
| Rob Gronkowski | TE | Buccaneers | $8,000,000 |
| T.Y. Hilton | WR | Colts | $8,000,000 |
| JuJu Smith-Schuster | WR | Steelers | $8,000,000 |
| Darren Waller | TE | Raiders | $7,450,000 |
| Cole Beasley | WR | Bills | $7,250,000 |
| Tyler Higbee | TE | Rams | $7,250,000 |
| Jack Doyle | TE | Colts | $7,100,000 |
| Cameron Brate | TE | Buccaneers | $6,800,000 |
| Nick Boyle | TE | Ravens | $6,500,000 |
| Marvin Jones | WR | Jaguars | $6,250,000 |
| C.J. Uzomah | TE | Bengals | $6,100,000 |
| Emmanuel Sanders | WR | Bills | $6,000,000 |
| A.J. Green | WR | Cardinals | $6,000,000 |
| Kyle Rudolph | TE | Giants | $6,000,000 |
| Gerald Everett | TE | Seahawks | $6,000,000 |
| Eric Ebron | TE | Steelers | $6,000,000 |
| Blake Jarwin | TE | Cowboys | $5,500,000 |
| Keelan Cole | WR | Jets | $5,500,000 |
| Kendrick Bourne | WR | Patriots | $5,000,000 |
| Sammy Watkins | WR | Ravens | $5,000,000 |
If you drop down to wide receivers and tight ends making an average of at least $5 million per year, as I've done in the table above (to include Bourne), there are 56 such players around the league. New England has 4 of those. The only other team with that many is Tampa Bay, and they just won a Super Bowl. But Evans, Godwin, Gronkowski and Brate looks a little more impressive than Agholor, Henry, Smith and Bourne.
Bill Belichick and the Patriots have an unprecedented track record of success, so they don't need to care what anyone thinks. But it's a lot of money handed out to a group of players who don't look elite. Hard to look at it with a lot of confidence it's going to get the team back up among the Super Bowl favorites. What they really need is to hit on some draft picks at those positions.
--Andy Richardson