Jakobi Meyers unhappy with Patriots latest free agent signing

The Patriots had a few players ready to hit free agency this year that have been integral parts of the team over the last few years, one of them being Jakobi Meyers.

Since the legal tampering period began this past Monday, there was hope that news would drop about the Patriots re-signing their homegrown player, especially since they had failed to do so in the weeks leading to it.

Not only had he become the top pass catcher in New England with Mac Jones, but he also impressed during the 2020 season with Cam Newton. He had the love and admiration of the New England fans and his teammates, and most hoped he would remain there for a long time.

But that quickly changed when NFL insider Ian Rapoport tweeted that Meyers had signed a three-year deal with the Raiders, a much lower price tag than his projected value.

Other than the usual reaction to hearing a team is losing a valuable player in free agency, there was a lot of concern regarding the Patriots’ lack of movement during the legal tampering period. To make matters worse, seeing how team-friendly Meyers’ contract was raised even more questions regarding Bill Belichick’s lack of interest in matching it, especially at that price.

As the Patriots continue working to improve their receiving corps, letting Meyers walk felt like a mistake. They already needed offensive improvement, and the receiver’s absence put them in an even bigger void, with not many worthy free-agent options left available.

Then news broke on Wednesday that former Steelers and, most recently, Chiefs receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster had signed a three-year deal with the Patriots.

The initial reaction from fans and media was mixed, especially seeing the length and price of the deal compared to what Meyers got from the Raiders.

And then we heard from the former Patriots’ receiver on Twitter, who quote-tweeted Rapoport’s announcement to share his disappointment with the signing after retweeting the tweet as well.

Once further details were revealed about Smith-Schuster’s contract, it showed that the guaranteed money was the biggest difference between his and Meyers’ deals. Although both are locked in with their new teams for three years and $33 million, Smith-Schuster is guaranteed just $16 million, whereas Meyers is set to get $21 million.

That’s a significant difference in pay, and we all know how things generally are when players sign with the Patriots; contracts are usually cheap. But given Meyers’ reaction to the news, it seems fair to assume that he either didn’t receive any interest from the Patriots whatsoever or that what they did offer was far below what Smith-Schuster received.