The Patriots have opened the 2021 NFL free-agent negotiation period with a splash.
The latest of the six deals they reportedly agreed to Monday are with two wide receivers: Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne, both of whom will head to New England from the Bay, where they last played for the Raiders and 49ers.
Our fantasy football rankers weigh in on what the acquisitions mean for the outlook of both receivers as well as their new and former teammates.
Matthew Freedman: Julian Edelman (knee) missed the majority of 2020 and is uncertain for 2021, which means that Nelson Agholor could enter the season as the legitimate No. 1 receiver on the Pats.
It's hard to know what that's worth, but neither N'Keal Harry nor Jakobi Meyers — nor the just-signed Kendrick Bourne, for that matter — is established enough to prevent Agholor from getting as many targets as the offense can proffer, and with his ability to line up out wide and in the slot, Agholor seems likely to be an every-down player.
Agholor is almost certain to be less efficient this year: Last season, he had a career-high 10.9 yards per target (vs. the 6.7 yards per target he average for the first five years of his career with the Eagles). But with the lack of competition for targets in New England, Agholor could compensate for a decline in efficiency with enhance volume: Right now, he looks like a decent bet to get the first 100-target campaign of his career.
As for Bourne … meh.
Sean Koerner: Agholor is coming off a career season on the Raiders and has been pretty inconsistent over his six-year career. I'm not so sure he's a slam dunk in 2021 and I don't love the landing spot.
Agholor will help improve the Pats' pass offense and Cam Newton's outlook in 2021, but both had nowhere to go but up.
Re-signing with the Raiders would have been better for Agholor's fantasy stock — I'm more interested in Henry Ruggs now that he'll likely be the Raiders No. 1 WR entering Week 1. Bryan Edwards could make his way onto the fantasy radar as well after a disappointing rookie season.
I echo Freedman's "meh" sentiment on Bourne.
