Patriots sign Hunter Henry to two-year extension

Henry operated as the clear safety blanket for quarterback Drake Maye, the latter of whom was under constant duress in the face of unrelenting pressure from Dennis Allen’s Bears defense. The team was largely unable to move the football on the ground and fell into an early hole, leading to Josh McDaniels utilizing the short passing game as an extension of the run. That’s where Henry made his presence felt, although it was rookie tight end Eli Raridon that caught the touchdown at the position. Week 7 goes down as the first game with more than a modest five targets for the veteran tight end, who has quickly become a difficult weekly start in a more crowded New England pass offense. Fantasy managers might want to consider alternatives when the Patriots face the downtrodden Dolphins in Week 8.

It’s a fairly standard Henry box score, though the 48 yards were actually his second most of the season. The touchdown was his second, as well as second in as many weeks. Henry took advantage of a Jets communication breakdown near the goal line. By now we know Henry is a perfectly fine option if you find yourself in a streamer or second FLEX pinch, but he is not making a move on TE1 status heading into Week 7 against the Bears.

Raridon, who was out last week, was very much involved in the revived New England passing attack. Hunter Henry, meanwhile, had three grabs for 44 yards and a touchdown. The Patriots have used two tight end sets at a high rate when Raridon is healthy. Unless Henry misses time, Raridon should remain on waiver wires in most 12-team formats. He had been targeted on ten percent of his routes headed into Week 5.

Henry was third on the team in targets and caught one of Drake Maye’s four touchdown tosses on the day. Henry has seen better involvement in the Pats offense of late; against the Bills in Week 4 he caught all five of his targets for 62 yards. The resurgence of the Patriots passing attack has made Henry viable as a streaming option. He’ll be in play next week against the Jets.

Henry always seems to produce against the Bills, so this was nothing new. The veteran played on 46 of the team’s 70 snaps and ran a route on 28 of their 43 dropbacks, the second most of any receiving option on the team. He also hauled in an 11-yard catch on 3rd and 10 to ice the game in the fourth quarter. With Eli Raridon (ankle) and Mack Hollins (calf) leaving this game with injuries, Henry could be on the TE1 fringe radar next week against the Raiders.

Raridon was questionable heading into the weekend, but he was able to get in three limited practice sessions this week, so he had been trending towards a return. He will back up Hunter Henry but could cut into Henry’s snaps enough to make Henry just a TE2 in deeper formats.

With Eli Raridon sidelined, Henry still wasn’t part of the Patriots’ passing attack. Drake Maye threw one of his two picks on an end zone target to Henry. With seven catches through three games, Henry should remain on waiver wires ahead of the team’s Week 4 game against Buffalo.

Henry was the Patriots’ primary tight end, leading all pass-catchers in targets on the day. He totaled 40 yards on three catches as part of a receiving-by-committee approach by the Drake Maye passing attack. His role is safe, despite Eli Raridon slowly taking on some more routes to open the season. Henry is a fantasy TE2 for Week 3 against the Jaguars.

Henry was quiet in this contest, though the same can be said of basically every member of New England’s passing attack. Despite losing A.J. Brown to an ankle injury, Henry’s role didn’t change. He earned a measly nine percent target share and ceded a handful of routes to rookie tight end Eli Raridon, who scored on his only target of the day. Henry will remain in the TE2 ranks for Week 2, but another quiet day will raise red flags for fantasy managers.

Daniels adds that third-round rookie TE Eli Raridon “looks the part,” but he believes Henry is “by far the team’s best tight end and once again will be a security blanket” for QB Drake Maye. Henry posted a 6/768/7 receiving line in 2025 and a 66/674/ receiving line in 2024. A similar stat line this year would be unsurprising.