The New England Patriots still have yet to fully address their wide receiver room this offseason.
Sure, they brought in veteran wideout Mack Hollins, but the Patriots need to surround Drake Maye with more. The good news? There are still plenty of options available for the Patriots to upgrade their receiver unit.
But will the Patriots choose free agency or the draft to add wideouts to the roster? How about both?
NESN’s Keagan Stiefel laid out a plan on “Foxboro Rush” in which the Patriots picked up a veteran wide receiver in free agency to bolster the group and then added at least one young talent at the position in the draft.
“You take a Brandin Cooks, a guy who has proven himself to be able to play on the outside. He can play in this system. He’s played for Josh McDaniels before. And he’s found success everywhere he’s been,” Stiefel said. “He was a 1,000-yard receiver up until 2021 and then he started to slide into these veteran, wide receiver-two roles. So, I think you sign a guy like Brandin Cooks.
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“And then with this added draft capital that you have from drafting Josh Simmons and trading back, you go ahead and you either trade back into the first round for Matthew Golden, or you trade back in the first round — or wait depending on how the draft shakes out — for Emeka Egbuka, who is maybe the most pro-ready wide receiver there is in this entire draft.”
Cooks obviously is familiar with the Patriots having played with New England for one season in 2017. He recorded 65 receptions for 1,082 yards and seven touchdowns that year.
The 31-year-old isn’t at the height of his powers anymore, but he still can contribute. It was just two seasons ago he hauled in eight touchdown passes with the Dallas Cowboys. Cooks did have a down campaign with the Cowboys this past season, totaling 26 receptions for 259 yards and three touchdowns in 10 games.
Golden and Egbuka would be good gets in the draft for the Patriots, but as Stiefel pointed out, it would require New England to trade back into the first round. They both might be worth it, though, especially with Egbuka hailing from a wide receiver factory at Ohio State.
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You can watch all episodes of “Foxboro Rush” on YouTube and Spotify.
