Free-Agent Contracts Patriots Must Consider Before Training Camp
The rest of the New England Patriots offseason has a DeAndre Hopkins-or-bust feel to it.
The recently-released wide receiver has been courted by the Patriots and a handful of other teams over the last month, but no decision has been made yet.
Hopkins would provide the Patriots with an answer to the offensive arms race that has occurred across the AFC East over the last few offseasons.
A strong argument could be made that the Patriots have the worst offense on paper between themselves, the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins and New York Jets.
Hopkins is by far the best option for the Patriots on the free-agent market, but if they can't land him, they could try to add more depth on offense to help Mac Jones.
DeAndre Hopkins
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The links between Hopkins and the Patriots make too much sense.
The Patriots are at a disadvantage in the AFC East with JuJu Smith-Schuster and DeVante Parker leading their wide receiver room.
Hopkins has four more 1,000-yard seasons than Smith-Schuster and Parker have combined.
The former Arizona Cardinals wide out has had not a 1,000-yard season since his 1,407-yard campaign in 2020, but he still carries the potential to record those types of totals when healthy.
Hopkins also owns more touchdown catches than Smith-Schuster and Parker have between themselves. He has 71 career scores. New England's current top two wide outs have 56.
The case for the Patriots to sign Hopkins is crystal clear, and they should do everything to land the 31-year-old.
Jarvis Landry
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The Patriots could have two plans if they do not land Hopkins.
They could go after someone like Jarvis Landry on the free-agent market, or they could stick with the group they have.
Landry's career resume is still better than the ones that Smith-Schuster and Parker have.
Landry has three 1,000-yard seasons, 38 career touchdown catches and six seasons with 80 or more receptions.
The 30-year-old comes with some risk after he played just nine games with the New Orleans Saints last season, but he would still be an upgrade to an offense that feels like it is missing one more key piece.
New England could shock a lot of people and contend for the AFC East crown with its current group of skill-position players, but that would require the Patriots overperforming expectations and the other three AFC East side to underachieve in 2023.
Kareem Hunt
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The Patriots can still improve their offense if they do not land Hopkins and are not fans of the other free-agent wide receivers.
Kareem Hunt would give them more versatility out of the backfield.
New England will go into training camp with Rhamondre Stevenson as its main ball carrier, but then it is asking Pierre Strong Jr., Ty Montgomery and Kevin Harris to pick up the production behind him.
The Patriots lost Damien Harris in free agency and cut James Robinson after signing him this offseason.
Hunt would take some pressure off Stevenson, and allow the starter to focus on being a dominant runner.
Hunt could take over the pass-catching responsibilities out of the backfield. He had at least 25 receptions in each of his six NFL seasons.
He may not have a Hopkins-like impact on the offense, but Hunt could at least a different dimension to what the Patriots are trying to do.
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