It’s not likely that receiver Michael Floyd will do much in the final three weeks of the regular season or the postseason in New England, given the difficulties inherent to learning a new playbook, new terminology, new teammates, and new coaches. Rarely if ever does a plug-and-play receiver have an immediate impact on his new team.
But the Patriots surely didn’t claim Floyd on waivers simply for what he can do for them over the balance of the season. As Floyd enters the final three games of his rookie contract, the Patriots have acquired another significant benefit: The ability to have Floyd’s potential departure in free agency count toward their 2018 compensatory draft picks.
There’s no guarantee that the Patriots will keep Floyd through the end of the season; they obtained offensive lineman Jonathan Cooper in a trade with the Cardinals due in part to the potential compensatory draft pick bump for 2018, but they eventually cut him. There’s also a chance the Patriots will decide that they like Floyd and want to keep him around, adding him to a receiving corps that would benefit from a healthy and talented player.
Through nearly five seasons, Floyd has had mixed results in light of his first-round pedigree. He has only one 1,000-yard receiving season, in 2013. This year, he has 446 yards in 13 games.
Still, the Patriots have obtained what will be a relatively low-cost opportunity to kick the tires on a player who should be very grateful for a second chance, given his DUI arrest from earlier in the week. If it doesn’t work, the Patriots won’t waste a roster spot on him for long.
