Getty Bill Belichick could move wide receiver Kendrick Bourne before training camp.
New England Patriots wide receiver Kendrick Bourne could head elsewhere whether or not the team lands free agent star wideout DeAndre Hopkins.
Bleacher Report’s Joe Tansey suggests that the Patriots move Bourne after a subpar 2022 season where he caught just 35 passes for 434 yards and a touchdown. Bourne regressed from his first season in New England where he posted 55 receptions for 800 yards and 5 touchdowns in 2021.
“The Patriots could release Bourne, which is the likely route, but they could dangle him on the trade market to see if they can get a Day 3 draft pick or two in case there is a wide receiver-needy team looking for a veteran pass-catcher,” Tansey wrote.
New England meanwhile is pursuing Hopkins in free agency. The five-time Pro Bowler visited the Patriots in mid-June and received a contract offer, but he remains unsigned.
“Even without Hopkins, Bourne may not be effective inside the New England offense,” Tansey wrote. “There is some production left in Bourne, but the situation in New England may not suit him anymore, especially if rookie Kayshon Boutte impresses in preseason.”
The Patriots drafted Boutte in the sixth round, and the former LSU star has a high upside if he produces. Boutte caught 131 passes for 1,782 yards and 16 touchdowns in three seasons with the Tigers, but he also missed seven games during his career due to injury.
Boutte and Hopkins aside, Bourne “has fallen down the wide receiver depth chart in recent years” as Tansey put it. The Patriots added DeVante Parker in 2022 and JuJu Smith-Schuster this year, Tansey noted.
Kendrick Bourne Seeks New Identity for 2023
Bourne recognizes 2022 didn’t go well, and he expects to do better for the Patriots this season.
“I didn’t give the team my best effort,” Bourne told reporters in June via Patriots.com’s Mike Dussault. “Personally we as players have to be our best so we can give the team the opportunity to win and I feel like I didn’t do that. So I’ve been grinding, trying to get bigger, weighing more, just being a more solid receiver and being able to do more.”
KENDRICK BOURNE QB1
“I don’t really go off stats, I go off how I feel, how I look and I just wasn’t in a good place, now I just want to avoid that,” Bourne added. “So it was a good learning process, it was good that it happened to me, and it’s always good to learn from hard times, struggling times.”
While Hopkins joining the Patriots could limit Bourne’s chances, the former Eastern Washington standout at least rolled out the red carpet for Hopkins. The Patriots remain one of the only two teams Hopkins visited and received contract offers from. The Tennessee Titans were the other team.
“Yeah I’m a fan of D-Hop, I don’t really know the gist of what’s going on but he’s a great player,” Bourne said. “He’s just a great leader, it’d be cool to play with a great player so anything that will help us win I’m with.”
New Patriots OC Bill O’Brien Makes a Difference, Kendrick Bourne Says
Bourne also talked up the new offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien and his impact on the Patriots’ offense.
“Just Bill’s familiar with what he’s doing so it feels good,” Bourne said via Patriots.com. “You can tell he knows what he’s doing in all areas of the offense, from receiver, running back, lineman… He knows offense a lot so it feels good.”
“He knows how to engage with all of us, I feel like. He knows our traits now and he knows where to put us so it’s been good. We’re still learning each other as a group, but he’s doing well.”