Patriots: Chris Hogan landing with Saints seems like best fit for WR

Outside of Chris Hogan’s career with the New England Patriots, the veteran wide receiver doesn’t have much to hang his hat on.

Before arriving in Foxborough, Hogan had two solid seasons with the division-rival Buffalo Bills. From 2016-2018 with the Patriots, Hogan hauled in 107 passes from Tom Brady for 1,651 yards and 12 touchdowns (across 40 games).

But his playoff career was even more impressive.

Over nine games in the postseason, Hogan registered 34 catches for 524 yards and four touchdowns, helping the Pats to two Super Bowls in three of those years. Unbelievable.

Most impressive about his game was his yards per reception. He led the league with a 17.9 mark in 2016. He finished his tenure in New England with 15.4 Y/R in the regular season and 15.9 in the postseason.

That’s why he’s going to be a tremendous fit with his new team, the New Orleans Saints.

Former Patriots WR Chris Hogan has joined the Saints.

The Saints will have a quarterback battle in training camp between Jameis Winston and Taysom Hill … and whichever veteran wins will need a guy like Hogan, who has sure hands, can move the chains in open space, and might just slip behind the secondary for a deep ball. He was a jack-of-all-trades wideout in New England alongside guys like Brandin Cooks (for one year), Julian Edelman, Rob Gronkowski, Danny Amendola and Josh Gordon (also for one year).

Now, he’ll head to New Orleans under Sean Payton, who employs a much more creative aerial attack, and will have plenty of opportunity to find holes in the defense with Michael Thomas, Alvin Kamara, Adam Trautman and speedster Deonte Harris expected to play big roles on offense.

Sure, Hogan might be nearing 34 years old and his last two seasons with the Panthers and Jets (both of whom were … bad) were uninspiring, but there’s no denying what the 6-foot-1, 210-pound veteran can do when he’s put in the right situation.

It’s mostly been Thomas and Kamara eating up the receiving yards for the Saints. They’ve yet to find another reliable target who can find holes in the defense while also acting as a possession receiver. Hogan can offer production on the outside and in the slot. We’re not saying to expect a 1,000-yard campaign from him, but if Winston or Hill can take the reins and run the offense properly, we could be looking at a Patriots-esque revival from Hogan in the NFC.

And if he makes the team, we’ll be seeing him on Sept. 26. The drama!

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