New England Patriots Roster Recap: Wide Receiver

In this edition of the New England Patriots Roster Recap series, we break down the Patriots loaded wide receiver group.

With the addition of Brandin Cooks to New England’s premier passing attack, the Patriots’ offense looks unstoppable. It’s time the “Tom Brady has no weapons” narrative gets put to bed.

The New England Patriots ranked fifth in receiving with 4,456 yards and 32 touchdowns in 2016. A step down from 2015 when they ranked fourth with 4,812 yards and 36 touchdowns.

Last season, Julian Edelman was the main target for Tom Brady in the passing offense. However, there was help for him in 2016. In his first season with New England, Chris Hogan ended up having a nice season. Hogan emerged as a solid deep threat for Brady, and he had an excellent postseason.

In the second half of the season, rookie Malcolm Mitchell started to show some signs of development, as he became more involved in the offense. Even though he wasn’t asked to do much in the regular season, Danny Amendola came up big in the Super Bowl for New England.  With the addition of Cooks, this is one of the best receiving corps in the entire NFL from top to bottom.

There are currently eleven wide receivers on the team’s roster. According to Spotrac.com, New England has allocated $18 million to the wide receiver position in 2017 (not including Andrew Hawkins). In 2016, the Patriots allotted $16.8 million to the group, 11.4% of the cap.

Bearing anything unforeseen, New England’s wide receiver group is ready to start Week 1.