New England Patriots Release WR Brandon Lloyd

The New England Patriots have let go of wide receiver Brandon Lloyd after the veteran played just one season with the franchise.

The Patriots announced the news through their official website.

Lloyd joined New England last offseason when the team signed him to a three-year deal worth $12 million. He finished his 2012 campaign with 74 catches for 911 yards and four touchdowns. 

The Boston Globe’s Greg A. Bedard believes that the Patriots are still in the running to keep Lloyd for next season:

The 31-year-old has been a journeyman throughout his career, and the Pats were his sixth team. He found a significant amount of success while playing for Josh McDaniels, with his best season coming in 2010.

The current Pats offensive coordinator was the head coach for the Denver Broncos during that season, and his offensive system allowed Lloyd to rack up an NFL-best 1,448 receiving yards.

Lloyd eventually followed McDaniels to the St. Louis Rams and then to New England, but he has not been able to replicate his statistics from his stellar 2010 campaign.

Leading up to Lloyd’s release, the Patriots had been negotiating to restructure the veteran wideout’s contract, as ESPN Boston’s Mike Reiss reported. However, an agreement was not reached and the franchise opted to make another change to its receiving corps.

New England has already let Wes Welker leave for the Denver Broncos before immediately replacing him with Danny Amendola. Tom Brady has been able to maintain success through constant changes to his receiving corps, allowing the franchise to let players come and go.

Still, the team would certainly benefit from having an experienced player like Lloyd on the field in 2013.