The New England Patriots will have to pursue other veteran wide receivers to boost their receiving corps. Tom E. Curran of NBC Sports reported that the Minnesota Vikings have no plans to trade Stefon Diggs, who recently signed a five-year deal worth $72 million, including $40 million in guaranteed money. According to Curran, the Vikings believe they are a viable playoff team in the NFC and Diggs would be a valuable asset to bring them there. Diggs has 13 catches for 209 yards and a touchdown in four games, far from his performance from last season where he caught 102 passes for 1,021 yards and nine touchdowns for the Vikings.

Diggs fueled rumors about a possible trade to the Patriots after his series of social media moves, such as following several New England players on Twitter, including veteran quarterback Tom Brady and wide receiver Julian Edelman.

Patriots have salary-cap room issues

The Patriots should be interested in trading for Diggs, but their salary cap room won’t allow them to do so. The Patriots lost about $5 million in salary-cap space in the signing of wide receiver Antonio Brown, who was later released after just 11 days with the squad. The Patriots gained around $2.85 million in salary cap room following the release of wide receiver Cameron Meredith and offensive lineman Caleb Benenoch. The Patriots also cut linebacker Scooby Wright from their practice squad.

However, it wasn’t enough as Diggs is slated to earn $6.81 million this season. The Patriots were also reported to be interested in Emmanuel Sanders of the Denver Broncos and AJ Green of the Cincinnati Bengals, but they cannot afford their salaries of $7.84 million and $9.16 million, respectively.

Patriots sign Kelvin McKnight to practice squad

On Wednesday, an unknown player wearing No. 17, which previously belonged to Brown, on the practice field was spotted. The player remained a mystery until Doug Kyed of New England Sports Network (NESN) reported that it was undrafted rookie wide receiver Kelvin McKnight, whom the Patriots signed to their practice squad on Wednesday.

McKnight worked out with the Patriots on Tuesday before he took the spot vacated by Wright on the practice squad. McKnight, who played college ball at Samford, suited up for the Broncos in the preseason, catching seven passes for 43 yards before he was cut. In his college career McKnight caught a total of 312 passes for 4,121 yards and 32 touchdowns. He also carried the ball 18 times for 110 yards with a touchdown and returned 74 punts for 643 yards with a touchdown. McKnight joins cornerback Nate Brooks, linebacker Terez Hall, defensive tackle Ufomba Kamalu, safety Obi Melifonwu, linebacker Calvin Munson, offensive tackles Dan Skipper and Nick Thurman, guard Najee Toran and tight end Jason Vander Laan on the Patriots practice squad.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED