Patriots: 3 wide receivers Bill Belichick must avoid this offseason

2. AJ Green

Based on name appeal alone, you have to think that AJ Green will have a plethora of suitors lined up with a blank check for his services. Given his long-standing status as one of the top receivers in the league, it’s admittedly difficult to argue with any team that’s incentivized to bring him aboard.

However, we simply can’t unsee the seven-time Pro Bowler’s startling regression over the last two seasons. For starters, he missed the entirety of the 2019 campaign after suffering multiple setbacks with an ankle injury that he suffered during preseason workouts. In need of a big bounce back year to prove he was deserving of a new contract, Green posted an absolute stinker while being partnered with No. 1 overall pick Joe Burrow for most of the season.

Though he appeared in all 16 games, Green registered just 47 receptions for 523 yards and two touchdowns, the latter two of which marked new career-lows. To put how underwhelming his season was into perspective, he compiled 46 catches for 694 yards and six scores in seven fewer games and on 27 fewer targets in 2018.

Being a veteran who likely won’t command a ton of money on the open market, Green fits the exact profile of a receiver the Patriots like to bring in. However, if the last two seasons were any indication, the former No. 4 overall pick is a shadow of the perennial superstar he was for the first eight years of his career.