Story in The Athletic has the Patriots meeting with free agent wideout Stefon Diggs. Diggs is 31 years old and tore his ACL in October, so he hasn't had much of a market. But if his health is right, he'd be a dramatic upgrade for New England.
Diggs was better than you might remember before getting hurt last season. He caught 47 passes for 496 yards and 3 TDs in his eight games, on pace for a 100-catch, 1000-yard campaign. That includes catching 6 passes for 71 yards and a score at New England (pictured). He caught at least 5 passes in all but one of his games. If healthy, he's got plenty of game left.
Even when Bill Belichick was around, the team did a lousy job of drafting wide receivers. Julian Edelman, a college quarterback, was their notable success story; their other best wide receivers were guys brought in as free agents -- Wes Welker, Randy Moss. It's been a pretty long dry spell for them otherwise.
New England hasn't had a wide receiver finish in the top 25 since 2019, six years ago. That was Edelman, and he's their only player to finish higher than 15th at the position since Welker way back in 2012. Prior to him you have to go back to Randy Moss in 2009 to find a notable receiver; that was when new coach Mike Vrabel was still playing.
In the last seven years, the Patriots have otherwise put one wide receiver in the top 30 -- undrafted Jakobi Meyers, who finished 29th at the position in PPR leagues in both 2021 and 2022. Brandin Cooks, who finished 15th in 2017, was their other success story.
The ugly history of the last decade is shown below; New England's top 2 wide receivers in each of those seasons. (Hard to figure why they didn't resign Meyers.) Wideouts who finished in the top 30 are in bold.
Diggs' numbers and rank in each of those seasons are also shown. He would have been New England's best wideout in five of those years and 2nd-best four times. That includes last season, in only eight games.
| NEW ENGLAND'S TOP 2 WIDE RECEIVERS, 2015-2024 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Tgt | No | Rec | TD | Rk |
| 2024 | Demario Douglas | 87 | 66 | 621 | 3 | 47 |
| 2024 | Stefon Diggs | 64 | 47 | 496 | 4 | 64 |
| 2024 | Kayshon Boutte | 68 | 43 | 589 | 3 | 65 |
| 2023 | Stefon Diggs | 160 | 107 | 1183 | 8 | 9 |
| 2023 | Demario Douglas | 78 | 49 | 561 | 0 | 64 |
| 2023 | Kendrick Bourne | 55 | 37 | 406 | 4 | 67 |
| 2022 | Stefon Diggs | 154 | 108 | 1429 | 11 | 4 |
| 2022 | Jakobi Meyers | 96 | 67 | 804 | 6 | 29 |
| 2022 | DeVante Parker | 47 | 31 | 539 | 3 | 71 |
| 2021 | Stefon Diggs | 164 | 103 | 1225 | 10 | 7 |
| 2021 | Jakobi Meyers | 126 | 83 | 866 | 2 | 29 |
| 2021 | Kendrick Bourne | 70 | 55 | 800 | 5 | 32 |
| 2020 | Stefon Diggs | 166 | 127 | 1535 | 8 | 3 |
| 2020 | Jakobi Meyers | 81 | 59 | 729 | 0 | 53 |
| 2020 | Damiere Byrd | 77 | 47 | 604 | 1 | 67 |
| 2019 | Julian Edelman | 153 | 100 | 1117 | 6 | 7 |
| 2019 | Stefon Diggs | 94 | 63 | 1130 | 6 | 21 |
| 2019 | Phillip Dorsett | 54 | 29 | 397 | 5 | 71 |
| 2018 | Stefon Diggs | 149 | 102 | 1021 | 9 | 10 |
| 2018 | Julian Edelman | 108 | 74 | 850 | 6 | 21 |
| 2018 | Chris Hogan | 55 | 35 | 532 | 3 | 70 |
| 2017 | Brandin Cooks | 114 | 65 | 1082 | 7 | 15 |
| 2017 | Stefon Diggs | 95 | 64 | 849 | 8 | 19 |
| 2017 | Danny Amendola | 86 | 61 | 659 | 2 | 44 |
| 2016 | Julian Edelman | 159 | 98 | 1106 | 3 | 14 |
| 2016 | Stefon Diggs | 112 | 84 | 903 | 3 | 31 |
| 2016 | Chris Hogan | 58 | 38 | 680 | 4 | 60 |
| 2015 | Julian Edelman | 88 | 61 | 692 | 7 | 35 |
| 2015 | Danny Amendola | 87 | 65 | 648 | 3 | 46 |
| 2015 | Stefon Diggs | 84 | 52 | 720 | 4 | 47 |
Health is key, but if New England is comfortable with Diggs' recovery, they shouldn't let him out of town without signing a contract. He'd be a big help to Drake Maye.
--Andy Richardson