Getty The Patriots' Kendrick Bourne is a free agent this offseason.
When you are an offensive player for the team that ranks 28th in the NFL in passing yards, 30th in scoring, and 31st in passing-game grades at Pro Football Focus, you can’t be too surprised if you hit free agency and find that your old team does not much want you back.
But for the Patriots’ Kendrick Bourne, there is a strong chance that New England will at least try to lure him back.
According to Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald, the Patriots are already putting in some effort on that front.
“The team has already been in contact with Kendrick Bourne, I can tell you that,” Callahan said during his “Pats Interference” podcast on Monday, January 15.
Keeping Bourne aboard would be a good thing for the Patriots, because Bourne was one of the few bright spots for the offense last season, his third in the NFL. Bourne had 37 catches in eight games this season, totaling 406 yards and four touchdowns. He tore his ACL, though, which ended his season.
Bourne had been averaging 50.8 yards per game and 4.6 receptions per game, both of which were career highs, when he was knocked out by the injury. He is expected to be ready for training camp in 2024.
Patriots’ Kendrick Bourne Was Best of Bad Bunch
Of course, the problem for Bourne—and the entire Patriots wide receiving corps, for that matter—is that he is not a true No. 1 pass-catcher. Bourne is reliable and would work well as a No. 2, but the Patriots simply don’t have any top-shelf receivers on the roster.
DeVante Parker has not been able to stay healthy. JuJu Schuster-Smith, last offseason’s big signing, was a disaster. Second-rounder Tyquan Thornton, picked out of LSU in 2022, was a combination of both, unhealthy and a disaster. Only rookie Pop Douglas outperformed expectations last year.
Douglas is an ideal slot receiver, at only 5-foot-8. He had a Pro Football Focus grade of 74.4, which was 36th in the NFL out of 128 graded receivers. Bourne had a PFF grade of 67.2, which was 66th. Those were the Top 2 receivers on the team. DeVante Parker rated a 61.2 grade, which was 84th in the NFL.
Bourne had signed a three-year, $15 million contract with the Patriots in 2021. He had a cap hit of $6.9 million last year. He is projected by Spotrac to sign a similar deal (three years and $14.6 million) for 2024.
General Manager Coming Aboard?
Having contact with Bourne does not mean that the Patriots will re-sign him, but it is a first step. Before those decisions are doled out, new coach Jerod Mayo must work out exactly how his staff will look.
Oh, and the Patriots will need a general manager. Before players can be signed, the team will need to know who’s signing them. Though, under Robert Kraft, the Patriots have never had a personnel person carry the general manager’s moniker.
As he introduced Mayo as the new coach on Wednesday, Kraft said he was not sure when that might happen. Or if.
“This is the first time in a quarter of a century we had to make major changes, and we want to see what we have in-house, look what’s out there in the marketplace, and then do what we think is right,” Kraft said. “I know people have ideas, but I can just assure you, any decision we make at this time will be to try to give the support to Jerod and put the organization in the best position it can to win games.
“We don’t have a fixed formula. We’re going to do — we know what’s worked for us in the past, and that’s what we’re going to do here in the future.”