Nelson Agholor: On Patriots Roster; On NFC Team's Radar?

Richie Whitt

May 28, 2022

(Cred: Boston.com)

May 28, 2022

If New England parts with the veteran receiver, it would have no trouble finding a trade partner.

Nelson Agholor is on the New England Patriots' roster. But is he also on the Chicago Bears' radar?

Despite being the subject of trade rumors in the wake of the Patriots acquiring DeVante Parker and drafting Tyquan Thornton, Agholor maintains he is "ignoring the noise" and intends to be a productive player in New England in 2022.

Nelson Agholor

Tyquan Thornton

Kendrick Bourne

New England is currently 10 players deep at receiver.

Parker, as well as fellow offseason acquisition Ty Montgomery, joins incumbents Jakobi Meyers, N’Keal Harry, Kendrick Bourne, Kristian Wilkerson, Malcolm Perry, Tre Nixon and Agholor on a depth chart that also includes the newcomer Thornton.

That overload of talent has a report out of Chicago indicating the Bears would likely be interested if Agholor. The report suggests the Patriots' veteran will be one of the NFL "most surprising" roster cuts.

Says the report:

“With the addition of wideout DeVante Parker, whom New England acquired from the Miami Dolphins, and rookie seconder Tyquan Thornton, the Patriots may have written enough on the wall to signal Agholor’s departure in the coming weeks.”

If Agholor is indeed in roster limbo, a trade seems much more likely than outright release.

The Pats would add $4.8 million in cap space by releasing Agholor, but they’d also eat a whopping $10 million in dead money.

Says the report:

“He’s more likely to restructure his deal or become the subject of a trade,” Moton noted, adding: “Nevertheless, New England may opt to cut Agholor and save approximately $4.9 million if team brass cannot find a trade partner for him. He may also push back against a pay cut.”

If the Pats do put out trade feelers for Agholor, the Bears would make sense.

With quarterback Justin Fields in Chicago, Agholor would immediately become the No. 2 receiver behind Darnell Mooney.

DeVante Parker

Nelson Agholor

Jakobi Myers

Agholor, who just turned 29 on May 24, spent his first five seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, who selected him in the first round out of USC (20th overall) in 2015. He played in 71 games for the Eagles.

He played in 15 games for New England last season, starting 13. He had 37 receptions for 473 yards (12.8 yards per catch) and three scores. This comes off a solid 2020 campaign with the Las Vegas Raiders in which he hauled in 48 passes for career-highs in yards (896) and yards per catch (18.7) while tying his career-high in touchdown receptions (8) in 13 starts and 16 games.