After some initially encouraging signs Maurice Harris would make the Patriots’ 53-man roster, the veteran wide receiver received word he will be released. The Pats are cutting another recent addition, per ESPN.com’s Field Yates (on Twitter).
Harris has dealt with a recent leg injury, and the Patriots have seen both Josh Gordon and Demaryius Thomas re-emerge in their plans. Gordon returned to practice on Sunday; Thomas is now off the Pats’ active/PUP list. An injury settlement may well be how this ends, with Harris being limited in recent days.
A former Redskins UDFA out of Cal, the 26-year-old wideout signed a one-year Pats deal for the league minimum. He caught 28 passes for 304 yards last season in Washington, his first campaign with north of 100 receiving yards. But the Pats subsequently added promising UDFA Jakobi Meyers and received word of another Gordon reinstatement. The team also re-signed Phillip Dorsett, making Harris’ roster path more complicated.
The Pats have a much higher-profile receiving corps now than they did to start the offseason, with two Pro Bowlers, a Super Bowl MVP and two first-round picks set to make the team. Harris joins Bruce Ellington and Dontrelle Inman as 2019 UFA wideout additions (Dorsett and N’Keal Harry) the defending Super Bowl champions jettisoned before Week 1.
Bring Mo home HTTR
I was expecting to see a comment from our word play expert stating:
Hair is being cut by the Patriots.