Receiver Anquan Boldin abruptly retired last month. But it doesn’t necessarily mean he’s completely done with football.
Ben Volin of the Boston Globe reports that Boldin and the Patriots had mutual interest before he signed with the Bills -- and that Boldin “remains intrigued” by the possibility of playing for the Patriots.
Because Boldin is on Buffalo’s reserve/retired list, it won’t be easy to get him to New England. The Bills would either have to release his rights or trade him.
Making Boldin’s intrigue even more intriguing is the fact that the Patriots lost their top slot receiver for the season 10 days ago. Boldin’s speciality is the slot.
That said, the Patriots need something more than a warm body to get banged around the middle of the field. They need someone who, as Tom Curran of CSN New England puts it, will share a brain with quarterback Tom Brady.
Boldin could eventually get there mentally, but first he’d have to get there physically. If he hadn’t signed with the Bills, he could get there immediately. That said, the Patriots have shown no interest in acquiring Boldin in the aftermath of the Julian Edelman injury.
The fact that Boldin has interest in the Patriots invites speculation as to what happened in Buffalo. Though the Bills strongly dispute the notion that the trade of receiver Sammy Watkins represents a throwing in of the towel on 2017, maybe Boldin reacted to the move by concluding that his chances of getting back to the playoffs were lower than he had expected them to be.
