Bill Belichick Scoops Up Former Vikings Receiver, 1st-Round Selection
Not long after the 53-man roster was announced, the Minnesota Vikings announced that they were moving on from Jalen Reagor.
Well, he didn’t last too long on the open market. Bill Belichick has decided to onboard the former Vikings receiver. ESPN’s Adam Schefter offers the update: “Former Vikings’ WR Jalen Reagor, who cleared waivers today, is signing with the Patriots’ practice squad, per source. The Patriots play the Eagles in Week 1, and Reagor will be a candidate to be promoted for the game.”
Minnesota fans should be hoping that Reagor breaks into the lineup. Schefter’s colleague at ESPN and Vikings beat writer Kevin Seifert notes that Minnesota will gain cap space when the receiver gets into New England’s lineup: “Every week Reagor spends with a team will offset the $2.4 million in guarantees the Vikings would otherwise owe him.”
So, the fans who are covetous of increased financial freedom for the purple & gold should be cheering for Reagor to get into the lineup and stay put once there.
Former Vikings Receiver Joins Belichick’s Patriots
Coming into the cutdown day, I guessed that the Vikings would be moving on from Jalen Reagor. If there wasn’t a 1st-round pick attached to Reagor and then a 5th + 7th to get him to Minnesota, Vikings fans would likely have been much more open to the release.
What Kwesi Adofo-Mensah understands is that those are sunk costs. Nothing in the present moment can undo the draft capital that has been spent on Reagor. The focus should therefore shift to an evaluation of whether he’s truly the best candidate for the WR5/PR1 job.
In the end, Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell decided that Brandon Powell was the most deserving candidate.
Given New England’s Week 1 opponent, the Patriots should be getting a super motivated Reagor. He’s among the more gifted players in the NFL; anyone who listened to Matt Daniels’ detailed description last year will know that the punt returner has some admirers in the NFL.
He comes in at a very sturdy 5’11”, 197 pounds while running a 4.47 forty. Plus, he’s still only 24. In theory, the fast, strong, and young Reagor should be a menace on the football field as a special teams ace and upside gadget player for an offense.
Third-year QB Mac Jones is going to be leading the charge for the Patriots offense. The young quarterback has the unenviable task of trying to replace Tom Brady, who many regard as the best player in league history. Jones’ primary targets are going to be RB Rhamondre Stevenson (who had a team-leading 69 catches last season), WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR DeVante Parker, WR Kendrick Bourne, TE Hunter Henry, and TE Mike Gesicki.
The key for Jalen Reagor will rest in adding a different element. Can he give the team some explosiveness from the slot? Or, perhaps, could he be a threat on end-arounds or on bubble screens? Giving more options to what was an underwhelming Patriots offense in 2022 will be crucial for the WR. And, of course, being a plus contributor on special teams won’t hurt.
The Patriots don’t appear on the Vikings schedule in the upcoming season. In other words, Minnesota will only get a chance to take down Belichick’s squad if the two sides manage to get to the Super Bowl.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference helped with this piece.
