Andrew Hawkins Announces Signing With Patriots

May 24, 2017 at 10:30 pm ET 2 min read 1.4k views

Photo: David Butler II - USA TODAY Sports

2 min read Patriots Video

The New England Patriots officially added another wide receiver to their already crowded depth chart on Wednesday by signing free agent Andrew Hawkins to a one-year contract.

Hawkins announced the signing via the Lebron James developed professional athlete social media platform “Uninterrupted.”

“I’m super excited about the opportunity to join the reigning football champions. I exited Cleveland, and I said it was about joining a contender and the Patriots are the contender, the reigning champs. The program is top-notch and you get the opportunity to play with the best quarterback and the best coach in NFL history.”

BREAKING: @Hawk announces signing with @Patriots on UNINTERRUPTED. pic.twitter.com/bQpVblBO1W

— UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted) May 24, 2017

Hawkins professional football path began in the Canadian Football League from 2009-2012 where he won two Grey Cup Championships for the Montreal Alouettes after four collegiate seasons at the University of Toledo. In January 2011 he signed his first NFL contract with the then St. Louis Rams but was waived in August of that year. The Cincinnati Bengals claimed Hawkins off waivers later that summer and he spent the next three seasons in Cincinnati before moving north to Cleveland from 2014-2016. The Browns released Hawkins on February 27th 2017.

2014 saw Hawkins have his most productive season as a professional, leading the Browns with 63 catches for 824 yards, but inconsistent quarterback play in Cleveland limited Hawkins to a combined 60 catches over the last two seasons. For his career, Hawkins has 209 receptions for 2,419 yards with five receiving touchdowns in six NFL seasons.

Julian Edelman, Brandon Cooks, Danny Amendola, Chris Hogan, Malcolm Mitchell and Matthew Slater are already locked into spots on the active depth chart. Hawkins will likely be competing with undrafted free agents Austin Carr and Cody Hollister in training camp. Devin Lucien and DeAndrew White are also on the Patriots practice squad.

To make room for Hawkins, the Patriots released wide receiver Devin Street and now have 12 wide receivers under contract.

Hawkins then followed up his announcement by posting an edited video scene from the HBO series “Ballers” which featured wide receivers Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola but with Hawkins head put onto the main character Ricky Jerret, played by John David Washington.

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