The Patriots reinforced their receiver depth on Tuesday by adding two veterans to their depth chart. The biggest name is a former top prospect.
According to the NFL Network, the Patriots are signing Corey Coleman to a one-year deal. The 24-year-old, 5-foot-11 receiver was the 15th overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. He’s had a tumultuous start to his NFL career, but has also shown talent and the ability to hurt a defense.
According to ESPN, New England is also signing former Denver Bronco Bennie Fowler. The 6-foot-1, 27-year-old caught a career-high 29 passes for 350 yards and three touchdowns last season. An undrafted free agent in 2015, he has 56 career receptions and 698 receiving yards in three seasons in Denver. He also has one career punt return. Fowler was released by Chicago on cut-down day.
The biggest news of the day, however, was Coleman.
When he was on the field, Coleman was the Cleveland Brown’s No. 1 target over the past two seasons. As a rookie, he caught 33 passes for 413 yards and three touchdowns in 10 games. He missed six games that season because of a broken hand. His best game that year was against Baltimore where he caught five passes for a 104 yards and two touchdowns.
Last year, Coleman caught 23 passes for 305 yards and two touchdowns in nine games. Once again, a broken hand landed him on the injured reserve midseason. The receiver’s best game in 2017 came against the Patriots’ next opponent – Jacksonville – where he caught six passes for 80 yards.
Coleman was traded by Cleveland this summer to the Buffalo Bills for a seventh-round pick. The Bills cut Coleman on cut-down day, eating $3.5 million in dead money. After releasing Riley McCarron and Chad Hansen on Monday, the Patriots entered Tuesday with just three receivers on their roster – Chris Hogan, Phillip Dorsett and Cordarrelle Patterson. By signing Coleman, they add a low-risk, high-reward player.
Coleman has had some issues in the NFL. He was depicted on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” show as a me-first player. There was one scene in which Coleman was seen complaining that he was running with the second-team offense in practice. The Browns promptly traded him to Buffalo. After being released, Bills GM Brandon Beane told The Athletic that Coleman wasn’t able to learn the offense and that that contributed to his being released.
Before the 2016 NFL Draft, Coleman was described as a dynamic playmaker and was compared to Percy Harvin. As a junior at Baylor, he caught 74 passes for 1,363 yards and 20 touchdowns.
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