Patriots: Latest workout with former Clemson TE is a complete waste of time

The Patriots brought in a former Clemson TE for a workout on Friday.

The New England Patriots figure to be busy in the roster transaction department after they watched eight players — which led the NFL — opt out of the 2020 season due to concerns regarding the coronavirus pandemic.

However, we simply can’t get on board with one of the two players they reportedly brought in for workouts on Friday. Per ESPN’s Mike Reiss, the Patriots hosted free-agent tight end Jordan Leggett and defensive tackle Darius Kilgo for a visit.

The latter could make for a valuable rotational piece on the defensive line. After all, he flaunts experience on New England’s practice squad and even earned a Super Bowl ring in 2017 as part of that group. The former, meanwhile, sounds like a complete waste of time.

Leggett was recently waived by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers prior to the start of training camp as rosters needed to be trimmed to 80 players. The 25-year-old entered the NFL as a fifth-round pick out of Clemson in 2017 and has really struggled to make a name for himself.

After failing to appear in a game as a rookie due to a season-ending knee injury, he made 15 cameos (four starts) the following campaign, across which he logged 14 receptions for 114 yards and one touchdown. In 2019, he spent several stretches on the Bucs practice squad and didn’t play in a game.

While he had OJ Howard and Cameron Brate ahead of him, don’t you think a team in serious need of a tight end would have picked him up if they saw something promising?

There’s no doubting that the Patriots are thin at tight end, but we fully expect them to give 2020 draft picks Devin Asiasi and Dalton Keene, both of whom were selected in the third-round, every opportunity to nab the starting job. Why bring in another inexperienced player when a guy like Delanie Walker is still available?

Even if New England ends up signing Leggett, he’d be a fringe practice squad player (at best) that would presumably be cut if either one of the two rookies burst onto the scene.

The Patriots obviously need to sign players, but this rumor confirms that they would be better off spending their new salary cap space to address other areas of need. Bolstering the decimated defense would be a good start.