The New England Patriots are signing former Buffalo Bills reciever Jordan Matthews, as first reported by ESPN's Adam Schefter and confirmed by NBC Sports Boston. They're doing so just days after trading receiver Brandin Cooks to the Los Angeles Rams.
While the transactions take place days apart, the receivers couldn't be more different. Cooks served as a deep threat in New England's offense by lining up outside the numbers and stretching the top of the defense. Matthews, on the other hand, acts as more of a replacement for slot reciever Danny Amendola, who departed for the Miami Dolphins during the early stages of free agency. Matthews amassed 2,389 yards from the slot in his first three NFL seasons from 2014 to 2016, the most by any receiver during that span, according to Pro Football Focus.
But Mathews had an underwhelming season for the Buffalo Bills after joining the team in a trade by the Philadelphia Eagles. He finished 2017 with 25 receptions for 282 yards and one touchdown. That was a significant decline in productivity from his previous three seasons when he had no fewer than 65 catches and 800 yards. He had career highs in catches (85), yards (997) and touchdowns (8) in 2015.
The Bills offense hasn't been particularly friendly to many Bills recievers with Tyrod Taylor averaging just 2,952 passing yards per season over the last three years. To make things worse, Matthews suffered a string of injuries during the season, including a fractured sternum during preseason and a fractured thumb in Week 4. His season ended early so he could get surgery on his knee and ankle.
"I think the worst and most frustrating thing about the whole situation was, when I got to Buffalo, I was still dealing with the things that I had to get surgery on," Matthews said on Sirius XM NFL Radio, per the Buffalo News. "But I had two really bad diagnoses on the knee and the ankle, so going into the trade, I thought they were both things that were going to heal on their own. But once I got around Buffalo's doctors, they got me in touch with the right people and then I got really good feedback."
With that in mind, the Patriots may think they're getting a version of Matthews, which resembles his first three seasons -- and not his most recent one.
New England Patriots
He joins a receiver group which no longer includes Brandin Cooks, whom the Patriots traded to the Rams on Tuesday. The Patriots have receivers Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan, Malcolm Mitchell, Phillip Dorsett, Kenny Britt, Cordarrelle Patterson, Matthew Slater, Riley McCarron and Cody Hollister.
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