The Patriots' receiving corps has been far from good this season despite the expectations of their rookies being top performers and the addition of K.J. Osborn in free agency. The former Viking had thrived as Justin Jefferson's right hand man, putting together impressive performances as the WR2 for four years.
There were high hopes he would be exactly the veteran player the Patriots needed, with Kendrick Bourne, sidelined with an ACL injury to start the year, only for that to be proven very wrong almost immediately.
Osborn was nearly invisible when on the field and a nonfactor for Jacoby Brissett and Drake Maye, ultimately leading to frustration from the receiver.
He aired his grievances on social media, triggering even more drama in an already unhappy receiver room, and eventually became a healthy scratch for several weeks before he was released. It seemed like an odd move, given that teams had allegedly been interested in making a trade for him before the deadline, but it was clear he wasn't fitting what the Patriots needed from him.
K.J. Osborn's career has seemed to taken a down turn, as he still hasn't played for the Commanders
Given that he was waived, Osborn was claimed by the Commanders and has been on the team for the past few weeks. Despite that, he is yet to be active on game day and was just made a healthy scratch again in Week 16, seemingly justifying the Patriots' decision to cut him.
It was expected that Washington would immediately have Osborn in their lineup, as their offensive production had gotten a bit shaky in the weeks leading up to adding him to their roster. However, he was made a healthy scratch for the first game and was relegated to the bench again this past week.
Whatever the reason, it is certainly not a great sign for his NFL future, as his time in New England is nothing to be excited about for potential future teams.
There is still time for this to change with two games left to be played, but unless he makes some sort of big impression at practice, it's difficult to imagine Osborn will make enough of an impact to change their mind from making him a healthy scratch again.