New England Patriots left empty handed after they miss on top wide receiver target in free agency
The New England Patriots just missed signing the player who would have been the most important piece of all their free agency acquisitions thus far. As of Wednesday afternoon, the Patriots had signed or re-signed eight different offensive players heading into the start of NFL free agency and it looked it Calvin Ridley could have […]
The New England Patriots just missed signing the player who would have been the most important piece of all their free agency acquisitions thus far. As of Wednesday afternoon, the Patriots had signed or re-signed eight different offensive players heading into the start of NFL free agency and it looked it Calvin Ridley could have been the ninth. Sadly, apparently the Titans swooped in at the last moment and stole the show with an offer Ridley couldn't refuse.
The Ridley to the Titans news dropped just over an hour after Jordan Schultz and the insiders at Bleacher Report had made it sound like things were down to just two teams in the Jaguars and the Patriots. That did not turn out to be the case.
Ridley would have been a great acquisition for the Patriots if they had pulled off a deal. Yes, New England did just re-sign Kendrick Bourne and still have a promising young player in Demario Douglas, but they clearly have one of the weakest receiver rooms in the league.
With Ridley now off the board, several Patriots and national journalists have already reported that the team will now shift their wide receiver plans from free agency to the NFL Draft. Josina Anderson of CBS Sports shared that a Patriots staffer immediately texted her after the news dropped, "they've moved one," in regards to the team trying to address wide receiver via free agency.
The good news is that the 2024 NFL Draft class is absolutely stacked with top talent at the wide receiver position and the Patriots are perfectly positioned to grab a great one (or two). The Patriots do have the third pick overall, but that will likely be used to select their quarterback of the future. They also have pick 34 overall, which looks like a great spot to select their likely rookie signal caller's favorite wide receiver target.
According to recent data from more than 100 mock drafts there are five wide receivers potentially slated to be selected between picks 28 and 39:
- Adonai Mitchell, WR Texas
- Xavier Worthy, WR Texas
- Troy Franklin, WR Oregon
- Keon Coleman, WR Florida State
- Ladd McConkey, WR Georgia
Any of those proven star wide receivers could immediately slot in as the Patriots WR1 of the future. It may be a bummer that the Patriots missed out on acquiring Calvin Ridley, but they still clearly have plenty of options to add some promising playmakers in the near future.
Top 10 Wide Receiver Rankings for the 2024 NFL Draft coming out of the NFL Combine are absolutely stacked
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Be looking for more New England Patriots free agency news in the days and weeks to come. And make sure you're following our Patriots beat writer Sophie Weller on X (Twitter) @sophieewellerr. She does fantastic work covering the team!
