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Is N’Keal Harry out of time?
If you take a look around, there are multiple concepts being circulated suggesting the New England Patriots will attempt to trade, or perhaps outright release the 2019 first-round pick.
A trade would be preferable from the Patriots’ standpoint, but it’s unclear what his value might be at this point,
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‘Don’t Be Surprised if the Patriots Move on From in the Offseason”
That’s exactly what Sportscasting.com’s Stephan Sheehan wrote about Harry as he called several of the Patriots’ roster moves potential signals to the underachieving receiver.
Sheehan wrote:
N’Keal Harry put up big-time numbers at Arizona State. Yet, he has failed to make any meaningful impact since Bill Belichick made him the final pick of the first round in 2019. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound receiver missed most of his rookie year with an injury. And by the time he did return, he could not get on the same page as Brady. Harry’s rookie season ended with just 12 catches for 105 yards and two touchdowns. Unfortunately for the Patriots, a fresh start with a new quarterback has not led to different results for Harry. After catching 13 passes during the first two games of the season, he has totaled just 11 more receptions. Although he continues to play a bulk of the offensive snaps, the big-bodied receiver has mostly been relegated to blocking duties. Stunningly, he has more penalties than touchdown catches in his second year in the league.
Sheehan suggested that if Harry didn’t become a threat down the stretch, the Patriots might move on from him. Well, if you’ve followed the Patriots this season, then you know Harry was anything but a threat in the last 3 games.
Over that span, Harry has 5 catches for 64 yards and no touchdowns. Clearly, that’s far less than what most would expect from a first-round pick.
Potential Trade Partners
Jerry Trotta of Musket Fire produced three potential trade partners for the Patriots in a Harry deal. One of the more intriguing landing spots for Harry, according to Trotta is the Green Bay Packers. For the past 2 seasons, Packers fans have begged for the organization to get Aaron Rodgers another receiver to go with all-world pass-catcher Devante Adams.
It hasn’t happened, even at the trade deadline when a move for the Houston Texans’ Will Fuller would have made sense. However, Trotta offered this rationale for a Harry-to-the-Packers move:
We know Harry is an unproven commodity, but we couldn’t think of a better team than the Packers to help accelerate his maturation. The Arizona State product struggles at garnering separation from defenders, but Rodgers is arguably the best in the league at fitting passes into tight windows. On top of that, Harry has showcased over the last two games that he excels at coming down with jump balls. This could help him morph into an appealing red zone target for Rodgers, who so often force-feeds Adams in those situations. Call us crazy, but the Packers — at least on paper — sound like an ideal destination for the struggling Patriots WR.
You might wonder what the Packers would send back in exchange for Harry. Quite honestly, a fifth or sixth-round pick would likely be enough for the Patriots to pull the trigger. Hopefully, Harry will do something on Sunday vs. the New York Jets to raise his trade value as it could be the best thing for both sides.