There was a story yesterday that the Patriots were shopping Malcolm Mitchell. An initial view, colored by the national respect for the Patriots and all their doings, was that they were overloaded with talent at wide receiver and simply didn't have room for him. Turns out they were shopping damaged goods.
Mitchell has undergone "a procedure" on his troublesome knee. They come up with nice ways of saying surgery these days. In the next few days we'll likely get a report that he's been placed on IR, waived with an injury settlement, or sure, "traded" (get Jon Gruden on the line).
Subtracting one name from New England's wide receivers streamlines the remaining group. We know Julian Edelman will miss the first four games. Chris Hogan will definitely open as one starter. Kenny Britt is apparently the favorite for another job in the top 3. When Edelman returns, those should be the main guys (behind Rob Gronkowski, obviously).
The slot job while Edelman is out is less certain. We'd been looking at rookie Braxton Berrios and second-year wideout Riley McCarron. Both fit the physical profile of the team's preferred slot receivers in the past: Edelman, Danny Amendola and of course Wes Welker in the past.
But Jordan Matthews is Mike Reiss of ESPN.com's pick. Matthews is bigger than New England's typical slot guys, but obviously more experienced than the other options. Perhaps New England will take a long look at Phillip Dorsett (probably not) or Cordarrelle Patterson in the preseason.
But if you're draft today, it's probably a Hogan-Britt-Matthews trio, with Edelman in that mix post-suspension. Mitchell looks pretty certain to be out.
--Andy Richardson