New England Patriots' veteran quarterback Tom Brady struggled due to the team’s lack of wide receiving depth last season. 42-year-old Brady completed just 60.8 percent of his passes for 4,057 yards and 24 touchdowns with eight interceptions and a quarterback rating of 88.0. That was Brady’s lowest quarterback rating since 2003 when he posted an 87.3 grade. Veteran wide receiver Julian Edelman emerged as Brady’s top target, catching 100 passes for 1,117 yards and six touchdowns for the Patriots. Brady’s other targets, like veteran Mohamed Sanu and rookie N’Keal Harry, failed to live up to expectations and faltered down the stretch as the Patriots lost to the Tennessee Titans, 20-13, in the Wild Card Game.
In that game, Brady completed just 20 of 37 passes for 209 yards and no touchdown with an interception.
Patriots must bring more weapons on offense
With Brady expected to turn unrestricted free agent on March 18, the Patriots are hard-pressed to bring more weapons on offense for the veteran quarterback in order to convince him to stay. It was reported by Ian Rapoport of NFL Media that the Patriots are willing to give Brady an annual salary in excess of $30 million to stay. However, Mike Giardi of NFL Media clarified that Brady is not asking for that amount, but he wants the team to use the money to add more weapons on offense. According to NFL analyst Nate Burleson, the Patriots could pursue veteran wide receiver A.J.
Green from the free agent pool to give Brady a dependable target if the wideout is healthy.
Patriots should make a move for Diggs
On Tuesday, Fox Sports’ football analyst and host Colin Cowherd said the Patriots’ offensive woes will be solved with one trade. On his show “The Herd”, Cowherd said the Patriots should send a first-round draft pick to the Minnesota Vikings for receiver Stefon Diggs.
According to Cowherd, Diggs is unhappy in Minnesota while the Vikings need another first-round pick to select their quarterback of the future. Cowherd said Diggs will serve as the Patriots No. 1 receiver while Edelman will be No. 2 target for Brady. “Mohamed Sanu could be your three, N’Keal Harry could be your four. That’s a pretty good receiving core.
That solves a lot of issues,” said Cowherd.
The Patriots expressed interest in Diggs before last season’s trade deadline but the Vikings refused to part way with their wide receiver. Diggs finished last season with 63 catches for 1,130 yards and six touchdowns in 15 games. Diggs, for his part, sparked rumors about a trade to the Patriots when he deleted all of his Vikings-related posts on his social media accounts, according to Justin Leger of NBC Sports. Diggs also never mentioned the Vikings in his "bio" section, signaling that he could be headed out of Minnesota in the offseason.
