Deconstructing Harry: The Latest on N’Keal Harry and his Future with the Patriots
N’Keal Harry’s experience in a New England Patriots uniform may be coming to a close.
Almost nine months after Harry’s agent Jamal Tooson issued a formal request that the talented, but enigmatic wide receiver be traded from New England, the 24-year-old once again finds himself the subject of both trade and release rumors.
Harry joined the Patriots as the 32nd overall selection in the 2019 NFL draft. He was the first wide receiver selected by New England in the first round since 2000. Despite the high expectations surrounding his arrival in the league, Harry has had little impact over his first three seasons. Hampered by injuries during his first two years with the Pats, he has appeared in only 35 of a possible 50 games, including two playoff contests. Throughout the course of his Patriots tenure, he caught only 59 combined passes for 619 yards and four touchdowns. Harry also carried the football eight times for 56 yards, never elevating himself into a starting role within the New England offense.
As such, Harry has been the subject of much scorn from the New England fanbase, as well as trade rumors throughout the offseason. He finished 2020 catching 33 passes on 55 targets for 309 yards and two touchdowns. Harry suffered a concussion in a Week Seven matchup with the San Francisco 49ers, which caused him to miss the next two weeks. While that may help to explain some of his lack of production, Harry has yet to look truly comfortable in the Patriots offense. There are times where he made some brilliant catches, flashing some of the skill that likely made him a first-round target for the Patriots in 2019. More often than not, however, he has been a minimal factor in the Pats offense.
Despite a solid start to training camp in 2021, Harry was sidelined for the start of the season, when the wideout suffered an injury to his shoulder, during the second quarter of the Pats’ preseason matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles. Upon his return, he actually saw more action as a blocker in the running game rather than a pass catcher. Harry was asked to block on 53 percent of his offensive snaps, finishing with a mere 12 catches for 184 yards.
In the aftermath of the Patriots’ acquisition of wide receiver DeVante Parker from the Miami Dolphins, Harry’s days in a New England uniform appear to be numbered. With receivers Nelson Agholor, Kendrick Bourne and Jakobi Meyers also expected to play significant roles in the Patriots passing game this season, Harry appears to face an uphill battle to find even a specialized role in New England’s offense. Parker, on the other hand, provides the size, skill set and the proven resume to be everything the Pats wanted in the Arizona State product. Therefore, Harry has seemingly become expendable in New England’s offensive plans for 2022.
Still, let neither the naysayers, nor the social media wideout experts distract you from one simple fact…N’Keal Harry does have trade value.
As a result, expect the Patriots to explore that value in the coming days and weeks.
While few would question his ability to make catches in tight coverage, Harry showed some progress in running his routes with more precision during camp in 2021. As a result, he often found himself in better positioning to make plays. Specifically, Harry found greater separation at the top of his routes, making him a tougher matchup in one-on-one situations. For the duration of his time in a Patriots uniform, achieving separation from his opponent has been a problem for him. While New England lined him up on the perimeter for the majority of his snaps as a rookie, they moved him inside more often than not in 2020. Throughout camp in 2021, however, it appeared that Harry was being groomed to see greater time on the perimeter.
If Harry is to continue his career outside of Foxboro, he will have to prove that he can operate outside his comfort zone. At 6-foot-4, 225-pounds, Harry’s size and strength could make him an effective weapon in short yardage situations, in both receiver and tight end packages. At his best, Harry has the frame to work as both a red zone and perimeter target, moving between the ‘X’ and ‘Z’ receiver roles, which allows him to make athletic and contested catches when needed. Harry is also able to contribute on special teams, primarily as a punt returner.
With less than four weeks until the 2022 NFL Draft, Harry’s future in New England will continue to be among the most compelling stories of the team’s offseason. Recent reports continue to indicate that teams have expressed recent interest in Harry. As a result, he is a name to keep an eye on as a potential trade candidate. If he is not traded by the team in the offseason, 2022 projects to be his final year in New England, as the team is unlikely to pick up his fifth-year option at a price tag of $12.4 million in 2023. Still, the Pats are likely to be highly motivated to move him. According to Patriots salary cap expert Miguel Benzan, the Patriots are in line to gain $1,047,048 in salary cap space by cutting ties with Harry via trade. Benzan further reports that trading him will create more cap space than waiving him and having him go unclaimed, as the responsibility of paying his guaranteed salary would travel with him.
While his future in New England may be uncertain, N’Keal Harry will unquestionably continue to be a popular topic among Patriots fans and media in the coming days.
