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Sunday may be game day, at long last, for the New England Patriots, but every day is a good day in these parts to be thinking about how to improve this team’s woeful wide-receiver group, among the worst in the NFL. And two prominent area media sites that cover the Patriots have converged on one potential target: Broncos receiver Jerry Jeudy.
Back in March, the Patriots had been one of the teams considering a move for Jeudy, the Broncos’ first-round pick in 2020 (15th overall), per Broncos insider Benjamin Allbright.
At the time, the reported price for Jeudy was high: A first-round pick, or a high second-rounder, plus a player. The Patriots got no further than that, the Broncos took Jeudy off the market and New England wound up landing on Juju Smith-Schuster as their primary wide receiver addition.
Jeudy is not a star, by any means. But he has played in some truly horrendous offenses and did manage 967 yards on 67 receptions last year. Jeudy is an injury risk, having missed significant time with an ankle injury in his second NFL season, and having dealt with a series of minor injuries through his career.
But NESN.com’s Zack Cox does have Jeudy on his list of potential additions to the receivers room.
He wrote this week: “Jeudy played for a noted Patriots feeder program at Alabama, and though he’s never caught more than 70 passes or topped 1,000 yards in a season, he’s always been saddled with mediocre-at-best quarterback play. The 24-year-old also has an additional year left on his contract (his fifth-year option in 2024).”
Would the Patriots Trade a 3rd-Round Pick for Jeudy?
It’s a similar story at NBC Sports Boston, where Phil Perry answered a reader’s question about Jeudy, whose trade value has apparently plummeted. The threshold for getting Jeudy would be something better than a third-round compensatory pick, which the Broncos would get if they lost Jeudy in free agency next year.
“Would you trade a third-rounder away for him? That’s the high end of a compensatory pick that the Broncos could get for Jerry Jeudy if and when he departs via free agency,” Perry wrote. “I think that’s a realistic target, Dylan. I’m not sure he completely changes your offense, though, because he’s not a true boundary or vertical threat.
“He would give the offense another capable weapon, however, and he seems to do his best work out of the slot — which means if he was acquired, maybe it would be done to upgrade what Smith-Schuster is giving them in there.”
Juju Smith-Schsuter a Disappointment
And that is the crux of the issue, isn’t it? Smith-Schuster has, through three weeks, been a major disappointment, and if there is no end in sight on that front, don’t the Patriots need to do something to give quarterback Mac Jones more reliable targets?
Smith-Schuster has graded out at Pro Football Focus with a 56.9 rating, which is just 83rd overall. That’s part of an awful New England crew of receivers, which has Devante Parker (66.3 grade, 54th overall) as the team’s top threat. Kendrick Bourne, at 65.3, is second on the team and just 58th in the NFL.
And speaking of awful, there has been no bigger disaster in football, with due respect to he Bears and Vikings, than the Broncos. With Russell Wilson and coach Sean Payton failing to mesh, at least early in the season, and a defense that yielded 70 points to the Dolphins last week, the Broncos could soon be in position to blow up the roster and collect draft picks.
The Patriots, who still aim to make the playoffs this year, ought to take advantage of that with a pursuit of Jeudy.
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