On a team that finished 3-14 and suffered issues in almost every aspect of the game, the New England Patriots receiving corps was especially disappointing in 2024. New England finished dead last among the 32 teams in receiving yards (3,343), 31st in touchdown catches (18), 27th in receiver first downs (167, tied with the New Orleans Saints) and 22nd in total receptions (342).
On an individual level, the Patriots’ leading receiver in terms of total yardage, DeMario “Pop” Douglas, ranked just 49th among all NFL wide receivers who appeared in at least 12 games, with 621. By contrast, 21 wide receivers finished with at least 1,000 yards and league leader Ja’Marr Chase of the Cincinnati Bengals recorded 1708. For that matter, Chase’s 17 touchdowns were just one fewer than the entire Patriots receiver corps’ total.
With a promising young quarterback in Drake Maye who will be entering his first full season in 2025 — he sat out the first five games of 2024 and played only one token sequence in the season finale — New England clearly needs to do something to make the team’s pass-catching better. But what?
Patriots Must Explore Trade Market for Pass Catchers
With a general belief that impact free agents will not want to sign with the Patriots due to the thin roster and state of uncertainty around the coaching situation, among other factors, New England’s head of player personnel Eliot Wolf will need to put together a stellar draft and, just as importantly, execute some inspired trades.
One big-name receiver who may be on the trade market is seven-year veteran speedster Tyreek Hill of the Miami Dolphins, a four-time All Pro who has already won one Super Bowl and been to a second during his time with the Kansas City Chiefs, who made him a fifth-round draft pick, 165th overall, in 2016 out of West Alabama.
In the first year of his three-year, $90 million deal with the Dolphins, Hill had a down year for Miami in 2024, but still caught a respectable 81 passes for 959 yards and six touchdowns, numbers that wold have made him easily the Patriots team leader in any of those categories. He is just one year removed from leading the NFL in receiving yardage (1,799) anf touchdowns (13).
Chad Graff, the Patriots beat writer for The Athletic, put together a trade pitch published Wednesday to bring the 30-year-old Hill to New England. Graff suggested that the most the Patriots could offer Miami would be a fourth round draft pick — with the condition that it elevates to third-rounder if Hill totals at least 1,200 yards next season.
Patriots Desperate to Upgrade Abysmal Receiving Corps
“We don’t even know who the Patriots’ next head coach will be (let alone their offensive coordinator), and Hill might not be the right receiver to put next to a young quarterback in Drake Maye,” Graff admitted. “But the Patriots’ receiving corps is so bad that they have to be in on every available receiver.”
Graff also noted that unless the Patriots can somehow lure Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins to New England, the upcoming free agent receiver class is thin, “and New England’s track record of drafting receivers is… to put it mildly, terrible. So it might be wise to make an offer for Hill.”
Whether a conditional fourth-rounder would be enough to nab Hill is another question that Graff left open. But why would the Dolphins trade Hill at all? Despite the team’s denials that they are looking to move him, Hill’s statements following Miami’s 8-9 season certainly made it seem that he wants a new home.
“There’s a lot of things that I need to reassess about my career,” Hill told the media on Sunday. “I’m out, bro. It was great playing here, but at the end of the day, I gotta do what’s best for my career.”
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Patriots Nab $90 Million All-Pro Receiver For 4th Round Pick in New Trade Pitch