Patriots make massive mistake not re-signing Jakobi Meyers

On Tuesday, Ian Rapoport reported that former Patriots’ wide receiver Jakobi Meyers and the Las Vegas Raiders agreed to a contract.

I’m not sure if the Patriots’ front office plans on waking up, but they need to get off of the couch and go make some moves.  The most crucial free agent for them to re-sign has not only not re-signed, but plans on signing with the Las Vegas Raiders of all teams.

Meyers was perhaps the only consistent pass catcher for the Pats over the last few seasons.  He was never a big touchdown scorer, but Meyers came to play each week and was nothing but consistent.

At the very least, Meyers is a mid-tier WR2 player who would have paired perfectly with a receiver acquisition like DeAndre Hopkins or Brandin Cooks.

What frustrates me the most about this deal is that it’s only $33 million over three seasons, which is just $11 million per year.  He got $21 million guaranteed, which divides up to be just $7 million per year.  This was an absolute steal for a Raiders’ team that looks to bounce back from their pathetic 2022 showing.

Almost as if a team who needs to improve is taking the necessary steps to improve.

The Patriots have none done that thus far.  Part of me is hopeful that Bill Belichick has something bigger up his sleeve.  We do know that the team has reached out to the Denver Broncos about Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy, but just reaching out does not accomplish anything.

I’d hope that Belichick doesn’t plan to sit on this mound of cap space that the team has.  They need to add some bodies in the secondary, at receiver, and need to acquire some tackle help.  Maybe the plan here all along was to pay attention to the later waves of free agency?

Maybe Belichick didn’t want to get caught spending too much on the first wave players, who can often be overpaid.

We’ll see, but so far, the Pats’ free agency is off to a terrible spot.