The recent move involving New England Patriots backup quarterback Malik Cunningham is beginning to make sense with the team signing wide receiver Jalen Reagor to the main roster, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
Cunningham, who has been working as both a quarterback and wide receiver, was waived on Tuesday, before clearing waivers and returning to the practice squad on Wednesday. That move opened a roster spot for the team to sign Reagor to a deal.
The former first-round draft pick hauled in one pass from quarterback Mac Jones for 11 yards in the Patriots’ 29-25 win over the Buffalo Bills in Week 7.
“Jalen’s come in and been a really good scout-team player for us,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said earlier in the week, via NESN’s Zack Cox. “We’ve played against a lot of top receivers, and he’s gotten a lot of good opportunities with some of the routes that those guys run to kind of be featured a little bit on some of the scout-team plays.
“He’s earned some playing time, which has come from his practice time and practice performance. He’s picking up the offense, and we’ll see how it goes, but he’s a good talent, good guy to work with. Glad we have him.”
The Patriots appear to be shifting their focus to speed at the receiver position with players like Kendrick Bourne and Demario “Pop” Douglas getting more looks now than DeVante Parker and JuJu Smith-Schuster.
Reagor hasn’t lived up to his draft grade, but he would definitely fit the mold from a speed perspective. He’s still only 24 years old, and this could be the turnaround opportunity he’s been waiting for in his NFL career.
