It appears as though Mohamed Sanu’s 2020 campaign, his first full season with the Patriots, will come after some recovery. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the 30-year-old wideout will have surgery to repair the high-ankle sprain that clearly affected him last season. The injury held him out from one game during the 2019 season, a Week 12 matchup with the Dallas Cowboys.
Sanu was traded from Atlanta to New England in exchange for a second-round pick in the upcoming draft. Just three games into his Patriots career in a Week 11 game against the Eagles, he suffered this ankle injury that hampered him for the remainder of the season. Prior to that, he was making impact plays, recording 14 targets for 10 receptions in the Baltimore game.
Following that injury, Sanu had only 12 receptions in the remainder of the regular season, finishing his first nine games in New England with 26 receptions, 207 yards and a single touchdown. And, in the playoffs, he brought in only one catch for 11 yards. If Sanu was never hurt, he may have been the addition that Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and the rest of the Patriots thought they were getting to right the struggling ship that was the offense.
The wide receiver should recover fully, and if he’s able to produce at the level he had in the past, he could be a solid No. 2 option at receiver. His health and a second-year jump from N’Keal Harry could make the Patriots wide receiver group a formidable one. However, Sanu’s $6.5 million cap hit is something to watch as well.
