Image courtesy of Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports
The Patriots need to sign Jakobi Meyers, regardless of the price.
Meyers is technically the best free agent receiver on the market heading into what should be a pretty wild offseason. An underrated free agent when he first came in the league, Meyers is due for his first major contract and doesn’t owe the Patriots anything by taking a hometown discount.
Sure, they gave him his first opportunity, but in a league where careers are cut short more often than not, who knows if this is the only big deal he’ll be getting? Now, whether he deserves top receiver money is debatable, but if we’re strictly talking value to a team, the Patriots need Meyers right now more than he needs them.
Meyers will unquestionably get big offers because that’s just what happens when teams are desperate and after watching that Super Bowl, teams are going to be desperate for any type of play making ability, which Meyers has. New England might not have a choice if they can’t figure something out trade wise, because just taking one playmaker in the draft probably won’t be enough to drastically improve this offense.
Here’s a list of the top receivers in the league and their salary:
- Tyreek Hill – $30M
- DaVante Adams – $28M
- DeAndre Hopkins – $27M
- Cooper Kupp – $26.7M
- AJ Brown – $25M
- Stefon Diggs – $24M
- DK Metcalf – $24M
8.Deebo Samuel – $23.9M - Terry McLaurin – $22.8M
- DJ Moore – $20.6M
Does Meyers deserve to make as much as any of those guys? That list doesn’t even include Keenan Allen, Amari Cooper, Mike Williams and Chris Godwin on it either. Meyers has been extremely useful for New England, but most importantly, the quarterback loves him. It’s pretty difficult to make the argument that Meyers deserves to be paid like any of those true game-changers, but from a Patriots standpoint, the organization needs to mend some fences in the locker room and forking the money over for a guy that’s been loyal and done everything asked of him might be a way to do that.
Meyers is in the driver’s seat heading into free agency and it’s more likely than not that he’s going to end up somewhere else. The Patriots need to think long and hard about what not bringing him back would mean inside the locker room, even if it means overpaying. Moving forward, there’s no guarantee like there used to be that free agents will want to come play here and Meyers has shown an ability and willingness to embrace everything that comes with playing in Foxborough. Beggars can’t be choosers and right now and the Pats are no longer in the chooser’s category.