Patriots Rumors: Kendrick Bourne Gets Contract Offer Ahead of NFL Free Agency 2024

As the New England Patriots figure out their plan at quarterback going into next season, they are interested in making sure they might have Kendrick Bourne available to catch passes from that person.

Per Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald, the Patriots have made a contract offer to Bourne before the start of free agency next week.

It's unclear what the offer is and how likely Bourne is to accept it, but Callahan did note the veteran wideout would have "strong interest" from other clubs if he decides to let things play out.

Per MassLive's Mark Daniels, Chris Mason and Karen Guregian, the Patriots and Bourne haven't been "seeing eye-to-eye" in their talks at this point and it's "unlikely" a deal will be reached before free agency begins.

Bourne just finished the three-year, $15 million deal he signed with the Patriots as a free agent in March 2021. The 28-year-old has expressed a strong desire to remain in New England.

"I want to come back [to New England]. That is a goal of mine. I love being a Patriot—it's a great environment for a person like me," Bourne told ESPN's Mike Reiss in February. "Being a Patriot helped me grow into the player I am today. I'm thankful for the organization, but you never know. I've been in free agency before and I didn't know what would happen. And I don't know now."

There might be some hesitation as far as how much to pay Bourne this offseason. He suffered a torn ACL in the Patriots' Week 8 loss to the Miami Dolphins that ended his 2023 prematurely.

Prior to the injury, Bourne was on pace to have the best season of his career. He was averaging a career-high 50.8 receiving yards per game with four touchdown catches in eight games.

Whatever direction the Patriots want to take at quarterback, be it signing an established veteran free agent or drafting someone at No. 3 overall, they need to surround that person with more help at wide receiver.

The group of receivers currently under contract to the Patriots includes DeVante Parker, Tyquan Thornton, DeMario Douglas and JuJu Smith-Schuster.

Bourne shouldn't be the No. 1 option for a team, but he's proven himself to be a high-end wide receiver in multiple different roles. The Eastern Washington alum had a career-high 800 receiving yards in his first season with the Patriots.