The preseason is winding down, Dez Bryant remains a free agent and the New England Patriots are still stuck with Chris Hogan atop the receiving depth chart for the first four games of the regular season. It’s safe to say help probably isn’t coming for quarterback Tom Brady anytime soon.
Go ahead and axe those whimsical pipe dream trades for Julio Jones, Odell Beckham Jr. and DeAndre Hopkins. There are better odds at being struck by lightning than the Patriots procuring one of the best receivers in the league at this point.
They could have easily settled with Brandin Cooks and Danny Amendola—you know, the two receivers that helped the team go back to the Super Bowl last season. But Patriots head coach Bill Belichick made sure that wasn’t a possibility, either.
Cooks was traded away to the Los Angeles Rams for a first-round draft pick, which the Patriots used to draft offensive lineman Isaiah Wynn, who ended up on injured reserve after getting beat out for a starting job in training camp. Meanwhile, Amendola walked out the door to the division rival Miami Dolphins for more money.
That goes without mentioning the bevy of roster cuts at the position due to injury—Malcolm Mitchell, Kenny Britt, and Jordan Matthews, to name a few.
Brady is now down to Hogan, Phillip Dorsett and Cordarrelle Patterson as his top-three best receiving options. Julian Edelman, his favorite receiving target, will miss the first four games of the season after violating the league’s performance-enhancing drugs policy. If not for tight end Rob Gronkowski, this situation would be about as dire as it was in 2006, when Reche Caldwell was the Patriots’ top receiver.
The best the Patriots could hope for is swinging a late trade for a versatile receiver like Golden Tate or Randall Cobb. Perhaps they’d even take a flier on five-time Pro Bowler Demaryius Thomas.
However, any player that joined the team this late in the preseason would have a steep learning curve, and it could be weeks before they’re up to speed with the offense to actually make a difference on the football field.
The most likely scenario for the Patriots is a gallant attempt at doing nothing and weathering the storm until Edelman returns.
Not panicking is a luxury afforded by a team with the greatest quarterback of all time.
Hogan may not be a true No. 1 receiver, but he has come up big for the Patriots when they’ve really needed it. Maybe another year in the system will bring out the best in Dorsett, a former first-round draft pick. Then there is the curious case of Patterson, who could be more help than the team ever realized when they acquired him from the Oakland Raiders.
There is enough proof in nearly two decades of dominance to believe the Patriots will find a way to be in the Super Bowl conversation by the end of the season. At the very least, they’re sure to make the playoffs.
What team in the AFC East is going to stop them?
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