Patriots Rumors: Jakobi Meyers, NE 'Haven't Made Very Much Progress' on New Contract

Jakobi Meyers may end up being the beneficiary of a thin wide receiver class during free agency this offseason, if he and the New England Patriots can't agree on a new deal.

That seems very possible at this point. Per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano, Meyers "has talked to the Patriots about a new deal, but they haven't made very much progress, and it sounds like Meyers will hit the market when it officially opens March 15."

Meyers, 26, had arguably his best season in 2022, catching 67 passes for 804 yards and a career-high six touchdowns. He has more receptions (83) and yards (866) in 2021, but just two touchdowns. He also averaged more yards per reception in 2022 (12.0) than he did in 2021 (10.4).

The Patriots aren't exactly loaded with playmakers in the passing game, so losing Meyers in free agency would be a pretty significant blow. One of the priorities heading into the offseason is surely putting more weapons around young quarterback Mac Jones.

The issue is whether the Patriots will want to compete with the market in a wide receiver class that is extremely thin when it comes to Meyers.

Phil Perry of NBC Sports reported that "Multiple receiver-needy clubs I've spoken to estimated that the Meyers market could end up in the $12 million-per-year range and top out at about $15 million per season."

That wouldn't bring Meyers to No. 1 receiver money, but it won't be cheap either, especially if he settles around the $15 million range per season. But given that Christian Kirk brought home a four-year, $72 million deal last offseason, and this is a worse wideout class in free agency than that was, it seems likely that Meyers will earn himself some coin this offseason.

Granted, the Jaguars likely don't regret that contract one bit after Kirk had a career year in 2022, catching 84 passes for 1,108 yards and eight touchdowns. It seems unlikely Meyers would have a similar breakout—Kirk's athletic upside was always higher.

But if the Patriots want to keep Meyers, they probably will need to grow comfortable with the idea of overpaying for him. That has not traditionally been Bill Belichick's standard operating procedure.