The New England Patriots signed free agent wide receiver Demaryius Thomas to a one-year deal, worth up to $6 million dollars on Tuesday. Thomas spent last season with the Denver Broncos and Houston Texans, compiling 59 receptions, 677 yards and five touchdowns. His stats last season were pretty pedestrian compared to his career averages but he is definitely a proven veteran in the league.
With a severe lack of depth at the wide receiver position, this signing is not a total surprise. Early reports suggest the contract is very team friendly but also beneficial to Thomas with a number of bonuses built into the contract.
Demaryius Thomas suffered an Achilles injury at the end of the 2018 regular season which subsequently ended his time in Houston. If Thomas can return to health and provide a reliable target for Tom Brady, this signing will be viewed as a win for the team. On top of the injury, Thomas is also facing some legal issues following a car crash he was involved in back on February 16th.
The NFL has offered no insight about potential repercussions for the incident but it is worth monitoring. To some extent Bill Belichick and the rest of the staff must have some sort of clarity on what lies ahead or else they would not have signed him.
In the whole scheme of things, this is a win-win situation for both player and team. For the team it is a win if Thomas can recover from his injury and contribute to a depleted receiving corps in desperate need of reinforcements. For the player, he gets the opportunity to catch passes from Tom Brady and in all likelihood the chance to compete for a Super Bowl. Add in the potential bonuses he could earn and there really is not much to dislike.
Ultimately time will tell how this signing works out for the Patriots. Regardless of the end result there are very few negative outcomes with this signing, particularly for New England.
