We quite possibly have the weakest WR corp in the history of the Brady/Belichick era and some people on here continue to act like Dez Bryant is the antichrist....
It’s time to bring him in for a workout.
Ridiculous statement - Think back to 2001 where I bet you couldn't name the #3 WR for the Pats behind Brown and Patten, or the fact that all the Pats TE's didn't have 20 receptions between them that year. Or the 2006 season that was about a half dozen ifs from another superbowl with Reche Caldwell as their #1, a guy who was out of the league 2 years later
Edelman, Hogan, CP and Dorsett is about an average Patriot WR group on paper and could be better than that by the end of the season.
Another thing to consider is that in recent years the RB position has become so much more of a factor in the passing game.
Another thing to consider is that Gronk, while not a true WR, has just as much of an impact on pass defenses as ANY elite WR.
FINALLY, another thing to consider is that the Pats passing offense has never been one that needs the "great" individual WR to succeed. Winning the "individual battles" has never been what this pass offense has been about. This is a precision operation where its more important to be where you are supposed to be, than how often you can out muscle the other guy on a jump ball. "good" and "dependable" are 2 adjectives that would best describe Patriot WR's over the years. The fact is you don't need to pay $16MM/yr to get guys like that.
I believe its not by chance that the Pats traded Cooks. Clearly he was going to be a $16MM/yr guy (whether you think it was justified or not), and the Pats (under BB) are never going to pay that percentage of the cap on the WR position.
I think I have higher expectations from CPatterson than most here. While I don't expect him to be another Brandon Cooks, I think he can be a legitimate field stretcher, and effective short area receiver, as he showed last week
As forBryant, I don't see that much of a difference between him and Decker, at least not enough to bring him in unless its a "one or another" deal. Their skills sets are too similar at this stage of their respective careers