Amid a wave of rumors that has the Patriots nnosing around NFL trades for some top-tier wide receivers—from Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk in San Francisco to Tee Higgins in Cincinnati—there is still the prospect of the upcoming second and third rounds of the NFL draft, not to mention points beyond over the weekend. The Patriots have their quarterback in No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye, but it’s clear they want to upgrade the offense’s targets.
The Patriots brought back the likes of Hunter Henry and Kendrick Bourne in free agency, and added KJ Osborn from the Vikings. But the wide receiver crew is still well short of where it needs to be, and it can be expected that the Patriots will partake of the considerable draft talent at the wide receiver spot in the coming days.
And they could even land a name of considerable renown—Brenden Rice, the son of arguably the greatest receiver in the history of the game, Jerry Rice. That’s how the folks at Pro Football Focus see things shaking out on Friday.
“The Patriots need all sorts of help at receiver, and Rice would give them the big body they need who is also capable of creating separation with precise route-running. He improved his hands significantly in 2023, dropping just two passes all season,” PFF wrote on Friday, naming the Pats as a “fit” for Rice.
Brenden Rice Starred at USC in 2023
Brenden Rice does not have the talent level that Jerry Rice had, of course. But he is a talented and possibly underrated player in this year’s talent pool. That’s because Rice was relatively quiet in the early part of his collegiate career before putting it all together in 2023.
Rice spent two years at Colorado before transferring to USC—two blue-blood football powerhouses—for his final two seasons.
Rice caught 45 passes for 791 yards last season, scoring 12 receiving touchdowns, which ranked tied for No. 9 in all of college football. He is not the nuanced, precision player that his father was as a receiver but rather is a much more physical player at 6-foot-2, 208 pounds.
He was solid at the NFL combine, even if he did not drastically improve his stock. Rice ran a 4.50 40-yard dash, which was 24th out of 30 wide receivers.
NFL.com’s scouting report on Rice highlights one of the attributes about him that quarterback Caleb Williams so appreciated: When it was time to find the end zone, Williams found Rice. “Touchdown-maker, bringing in a score every 5.2 catches during career,” the site noted.
It went on: “Rice possesses good build-up speed to create deep-ball opportunities once his ball skills are added to the equation. Rice catches with quick, strong hands and good extension to help with frequent contested catches. There are some limitations at play, but he has enough checkmarks to project as an early backup with some upward mobility.”
Patriots Seeking Aiyuk Deal?
Friday has been dominated, though, by the notion that the Patriots will take their $50 million in remaining cap space and use it to alleviate the 49ers of one of their two star receivers, Samuel or Aiyuk. The trade rumors ran hot and heavy all afternoon, with the 49ers unable to find a way to give Aiyuk the sizable extension he wants.
According to NBC Sports Boston’s Tom E. Curran (via radio host Nick Cattles), the Patriots and 49ers have talked about a trade that would send Aiyuk—who needs a new contract and should be paid among the top receivers in the game—to the Patriots.
It’s a tremendous opportunity for the Patriots to land Aiyuk, maybe the best young receiver in the game. He is only 26 and is coming off the best season of his career, a 1,342-yard showing on 75 catches, in which he ranked No. 2 in the NFL in yards per reception at 17.9.
The first round passed without the 49ers getting a suitable deal for Aiyuk, and the team wound up choosing Florida’s Ricky Pearsall with the No. 31 pick. That seems to open the way for the 49ers to unload either of their receiving stars for further draft capital.
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