Patriots sign wide receiver Marqise Lee from the Jaguars

Marqise Lee (Google Images)

The New England Patriots have signed wide receiver Marqise Lee of Inglewood, California to a one year contract according to TSN. Financial terms of the contract have not yet been released.

Lee had played the last five seasons with the Jaguars. However, he only played six games for the Jaguars in 2019 and had three catches for 18 yards. The injury came on October 27 in a 29-15 Jaguars win over the New York Jets. Lee had only been targeted four times throughout the 2019 National Football League regular season before the injury.

The knee injury Lee suffered against the Jets was the second significant injury he suffered over the last two seasons. In 2018, Lee injured his knee during the preseason and did not see a single snap with Jacksonville throughout the entire year. The injuries in 2018 and 2019 came after Lee signed a four-year contract worth $38 million. The Jaguars cut Lee this past Monday.

The Patriots will be hoping that they acquire the Marqise Lee who had back-to-back solid seasons with Jacksonville in 2016 and 2017. In 2016, Lee had 63 catches for 851 yards and three touchdowns. Then in 2017, Lee had 56 catches for 702 yards and three touchdowns. In 59 games with the Jaguars, he had 174 catches for 2184 yards and eight touchdowns.

New England meanwhile needed another receiver. After trading Rob Gronkowski to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Wednesday, the Patriots found a wideout that could complement Julian Edelman this season. The key word in the past sentence was simply “could”. If Lee is healthy for the Patriots, he could be an asset. Otherwise, he will simply be the latest experimental project for Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.