Harry Situation: Last chance for Patriots WR?
FOXBORO - As news trickles in that fourth-year wide receiver N’Keal Harry will attend the New England Patriots mandatory minicamp this week, rumors are swirling that the former Arizona State product may need to step out of his comfort zone if he wants a crack at the 53-man roster this fall.
Just like Ariana Grande, Harry may be “switching positions” to continue his eventful career in New England. The team may view that they are “stuck with u” and will give him “one more time” to extend his Patriots career. Okay, enough of the references to the pop star.
According to ESPN, Harry’s “best chance” to extend his stint in Foxboro would to switch to tight end. While his odds of doing that at a high lever may be drastically lower than some of the tight ends on the roster now, production from the end of the tight end room has been sparse and could open the door for Harry to squeak in as the team’s third tight end.
Dalton Keene and Devin Asiasi are both potential cut candidates this summer after their first two seasons as pros did not go as the team had hoped, especially that the team spent two third-round picks on them both in 2020.
Harry has been absent from the team’s voluntary OTAs for the past two weeks and while skipping those did not help his cause in this offense, you cannot count him out to make a final push for the roster during the team practices.
Whether he makes the team this year or not, the team may plan to cut losses as soon as they feel is necessary. The Patriots declined his fifth-year option in May, meaning the Patriots staff does not view him as an integral piece of this offense’s future.
The writing was on all the wall for Harry, as the team brought in Tyquan Thornton during the second night of the 2022 draft and traded with the divisional rival Dolphins for DeVante Parker.
Harry will continue to draw buzz throughout New England as the former first round selection looks to finally make a name for himself, regardless of position.
Through his three years in a Patriots uniform, he has made almost no impact on the success of this team’s passing attack. In just 33 games, Harry has only 57 catches and four TDs. Dreadful statistics for the final pick of the first round back in 2019.
Other wide receivers on the roster that will compete with Harry for a final roster spot include Kristian Wilkerson, Malcolm Perry, Tre Nixon, and potentially Nelson Agholor.
All in all, why N’Keal Harry is still a Patriot is surprising to most, if not all of New England fans. He is one mediocre training camp from having Bill Belichick say “thank u, next.”
We had to slide one more song in there. Maybe Harry's swan song?
