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Pricey Patriots

New England spends big on pass catchers

One of the bigger stories of the free agency period has been the way the New England Patriots opened up their checkbook to bring in a lot of top dollar players. It doesn't really fit the profile of the way they built their dynasty, and it's fair to wonder if it will pay off.

Nowhere is this new strategy more apparent than at receiver, both wideouts and tight ends. In the last two drafts New England has used picks in the first three rounds on N'Keal Harry, Dalton Keene and Devin Asiasi. But Harry has flopped and Keene and Asiasi could barely get on the field as rookies. So the Patriots, it seems, have already turned the page on those players.

Right at the start of free agency, New England handed out sizable contracts to Nelson Agholor, Hunter Henry, Jonnu Smith and Kendrick Bourne. Three of those players are making an average of $11 million per year. There are 26 pass catchers in the league making that much money, and New England has three of them. It's also fair to say that if you looked at all of those high-priced receivers and said which ones don't belong (based on career performance to this point), New England would now have most of the ones you'd pick out. (Salary info from overthecap.com.)

RECEIVER CONTRACTS, AVG/YEAR
PlayerPosTeamAvg./Year
DeAndre HopkinsWRCardinals$27,250,000
Julio JonesWRFalcons$22,000,000
Keenan AllenWRChargers$20,025,000
Amari CooperWRCowboys$20,000,000
Michael ThomasWRSaints$19,250,000
Odell Beckham Jr.WRBrowns$18,000,000
Kenny GolladayWRGiants$18,000,000
Tyreek HillWRKansas City$18,000,000
Allen RobinsonWRBears$17,980,000
Tyler LockettWRSeahawks$17,250,000
Mike EvansWRBuccaneers$16,500,000
Robert WoodsWRRams$16,250,000
Brandin CooksWRTexans$16,200,000
Adam ThielenWRVikings$16,200,000
Chris GodwinWRBuccaneers$15,983,000
Cooper KuppWRRams$15,750,000
Jarvis LandryWRBrowns$15,100,000
George KittleTE49ers$15,000,000
Davante AdamsWRPackers$14,500,000
Stefon DiggsWRBills$14,400,000
Travis KelceTEKansas City$14,312,500
Corey DavisWRJets$12,500,000
Jonnu SmithTEPatriots$12,500,000
Hunter HenryTEPatriots$12,500,000
Curtis SamuelWRWashington$11,500,000
Nelson AgholorWRPatriots$11,000,000
Tyler BoydWRBengals$10,750,000
Will FullerWRDolphins$10,625,000
Austin HooperTEBrowns$10,500,000
Sterling ShepardWRGiants$10,250,000
DeVante ParkerWRDolphins$10,166,667
Robby AndersonWRPanthers$10,000,000
Jamison CrowderWRJets$9,500,000
Randall CobbWRTexans$9,000,000
Zach ErtzTEEagles$8,500,000
Jimmy GrahamTEBears$8,000,000
Rob GronkowskiTEBuccaneers$8,000,000
T.Y. HiltonWRColts$8,000,000
JuJu Smith-SchusterWRSteelers$8,000,000
Darren WallerTERaiders$7,450,000
Cole BeasleyWRBills$7,250,000
Tyler HigbeeTERams$7,250,000
Jack DoyleTEColts$7,100,000
Cameron BrateTEBuccaneers$6,800,000
Nick BoyleTERavens$6,500,000
Marvin JonesWRJaguars$6,250,000
C.J. UzomahTEBengals$6,100,000
Emmanuel SandersWRBills$6,000,000
A.J. GreenWRCardinals$6,000,000
Kyle RudolphTEGiants$6,000,000
Gerald EverettTESeahawks$6,000,000
Eric EbronTESteelers$6,000,000
Blake JarwinTECowboys$5,500,000
Keelan ColeWRJets$5,500,000
Kendrick BourneWRPatriots$5,000,000
Sammy WatkinsWRRavens$5,000,000

If you drop down to wide receivers and tight ends making an average of at least $5 million per year, as I've done in the table above (to include Bourne), there are 56 such players around the league. New England has 4 of those. The only other team with that many is Tampa Bay, and they just won a Super Bowl. But Evans, Godwin, Gronkowski and Brate looks a little more impressive than Agholor, Henry, Smith and Bourne.

Bill Belichick and the Patriots have an unprecedented track record of success, so they don't need to care what anyone thinks. But it's a lot of money handed out to a group of players who don't look elite. Hard to look at it with a lot of confidence it's going to get the team back up among the Super Bowl favorites. What they really need is to hit on some draft picks at those positions.

--Andy Richardson

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