The Patriots made a rare trade within their division over the weekend, adding DeVante Parker to their receiving corps. One of the potential effects of that move is the end of N’Keal Harry‘s tenure in New England, as noted by ESPN’s Mike Reiss. 
[RELATED: Dolphins Trade Parker To Patriots]
Reiss writes that the addition of Parker “likely means the end of the road for” Harry with the Patriots. The six-foot-three Parker profiles as a direct replacement for Harry, who has never translated his contested-catch ability from college to the NFL. In 33 games, the former first-rounder has totalled 57 receptions for 598 yards and four touchdowns.
Even without Parker being brought in, Harry found himself behind Jakobi Meyers, Kendrick Bourne and Nelson Agholor on the depth chart. That led many to believe that the Patriots were likely to decline his fifth-year option later this spring, which would signal a departure sooner than later through free agency.
However, it was reported last month that the Arizona State alum was drawing trade interest. Teams looking to at least add depth to their WR room before the draft could find a spot for the 24-year-old, and with the Patriots having added Parker (and, quite possibly, looking to select another WR early in this month’s draft), he could likely be had for a reasonable trade price.
While nothing is imminent regarding Harry’s future (or lack thereof) in New England, he could very well find himself in a new NFL home relatively soon.
Harry for Reagor
That will never happen, Philly not that dumb
Even his exit from New England is too slow.
Should have done Harry for Isabella a while ago. Probably too late now.
Isabella might be available for free before long.
In trying to come up with logical destinations that may offer Harry a better shot right now for his skill set, it’s hard to pick a good place off the bat, but it would be interesting to see him with the Chargers. They don’t have the need necessarily with Williams there, but Herbert is one of the few quarterbacks currently who can consistently deliver the kind of jump balls that Harry made his name off in college (and hasn’t yet done so in the NFL).
New Orleans is hurting for receivers, and Winston may be able to offer that aspect as well, but they are likely looking for more proven talent and may not be willing to take a chance on further developing a bust. This is all purely speculative of course, but you’d have to think that Harry ends up somewhere else and it’s a challenge seeing where he could attempt to revitalize his career.
Thinking outside the box, but maybe the Steelers. No one is better at utilizing and developing WR talent. While he likely would be the 4th or fifth WR on the depth chart starting out, it might be the best option for his career long term.
Green Bay, KC, and Atlanta all have weak enough WR rooms to take a no cost flyer on him. So does Houston, plus maybe Caserio is still fond of him.
KC might be a fit. Green Bay possibly, but I don’t think as much. Pittsburgh is too early to tell without knowing who the starter will be. The Bills could be an intriguing possibility, but not one that I would count on.
The quarterback will be very important in determining Harry’s chances to become useful for his new team in my opinion. It wouldn’t simply just need to be a good quarterback, but one who is both talented and willing to throw jump balls and back shoulder fades that give a fifty-fifty receiver a better chance at high pointing catches. Harry may never translate that ability to the pros on a consistent basis, but that’s his best chance for success in my opinion. There aren’t as many QBs right now who can offer that as there were ten years ago with the rise of mobile QB and the college offense, but it’s still the most important throw for an elite pocket passer.
Maybe, but he simply hasn’t shown much ability to do that at a high level. The best way for receivers to be good in the NFL is to get separation, whether that’s quickly or downfield, and he doesn’t look like he can do that in the pros. Either he shows something new, some other offense finds a new way to use him, or he’s going to float around the bottoms of rosters and practice squads for a couple years before he goes to a lower league.
That’s what I said, Oof. Harry hasn’t demonstrated that consistently. Not every receiver gets seperation, it’s not everyone’s style. Possession (classic example: Anquan Boldin) and High point (classic example: Dez Bryant) receivers are less common today (for the same reasons that elite pocket passers are), but certain receivers still do that in the league. Harry is that type of receiver, just not a good one. He’s not going to ever be a seperation type of player. His only odds are to get consistent with his skill set, and find a quarterback who is able to feed him those passes to give him a chance to do so.
Man, not a whole lot of guys like that, though. It’s just harder to win that way. Boldin was maybe the toughest receiver I’ve ever seen. Bryant showed more quick burst and agility. Hard to project some of those things to the pros. Harry’s measurables were very similar to JJ Arcega-Whiteside, who flopped in basically the same exact way. It’s just harder to win as a contested catch possession receiver in the NFL than in college. For every Michael Thomas, there’s a Laquon Treadwell. If a guy’s measurements show that he’s not a special athlete by NFL standards, he’d better have some special skills.
No argument on that. That’s why those guys are so much more valuable. But, again, not many QBs can throw those balls anymore. Some guys, like Hopkins, are so good at it that it just doesn’t matter. But most of that reduced bunch need a good back shoulder passer or the like to take full advantage of their skill set.
No thanks for the Bills, thank you.
The problem with Harry is he cannot catch the ball and does not know how to run his routes properly. If he can’t catch a ball thrown by the GOAT he is done.
I wouldn’t trade for him, but if he is released and can be signed for close to the minimum, the Bears should give him a shot through training camp at least. Probably nothing there, but you never know.
Stop getting my hopes up and just tell me when he’s been released. Could have had AJ Brown smh…
DK Metcalf, too.
Or Deebo Samuel.
try him at tight end?