Patriots informed WR DeVante Parker that they are releasing him Wednesday and he now has been given permission to talk to other teams.

Related Players: JuJu Smith-Schuster, Kendrick Bourne, Pop Douglas, Tyquan Thornton

New England has a lot of work to do to make this WR room approachable from a fantasy standpoint, and this will go a little bit of the way to clearing room for new pieces. Expect the Patriots to target at least one pass-catcher in the NFL Draft.

Follow-up tests Monday revealed that New England Patriots leading receiver Kendrick Bourne tore his right ACL, according to a source.

Related players: DeVante Parker, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Demario Douglas, Kayshon Boutte

The injury ends Bourne's seventh season in the NFL, which was on pace to be his best, as he faces a recovery that a source estimates in the six- to eight-month range. Bourne was injured on the first play of the fourth quarter Sunday. It's a big hit to the Pats offense as Bourne had a TD in each of the last two games and before that had a line of 10-89-0 in Week 6.

Patriots WRs JuJu Smith-Schuster and Demario Douglas and OL Riley Reiff and Cole Strange are all out for Sunday's game vs. Las Vegas.

Related Players: DeVante Parker, Kendrick Bourne, Tyquan Thornton

The Patriots offense is hardly in a position to be missing any of their players, but it's not as if they're getting much out of Juju anyways (14-86 on 24 targets). Thornton should get some extra run in Week 6, but none of the WRs should be taken seriously in fantasy until we see some sort of rebound.

Multiple team sources believe Smith-Schuster is not presently among the team’s five most effective pass-catchers. According to those same sources, his place in the offense has been complicated by a variety of factors. His knee, flatly, is not 100%. Asked whether Smith-Schuster was healthy enough to finish Sunday’s game, Pats coach Bill Belichick dodged the question in his Wednesday morning press conference.

Related Players: Demario Douglas, Kendrick Bourne, Kayshon Boutte

It's been a long time since we've been able to trust a Patriots receiver to deliver consistently, and some thought that maybe Smith-Schuster could finally be that answer. Things aren't looking great right now. Three different options took more slot snaps than the former Chief, including both tight ends, Hunter Henry and Mike Gesicki. Smith-Schuster can be safely dropped in most leagues.

The Patriots & WR DeVante Parker reached an agreement on a 3-year new contract worth up to $33M.

Related Players: JuJu Smith-Schuster, Kendrick Bourne

This number seems astronomical. Parker barely cleared 30 receptions in 13 games played last season and this receiver group doesn't look much different than 2022. Regardless of this incentive-laden contract, he is still a WR5/6 in fantasy terms.

Patriots and JuJu Smith-Schuster reached an agreement on a three-year, $33 million deal with $22.5 million earned over the first two years of the deal.

Related Players: DeVante Parker, Nelson Agholor, Kendrick Bourne

New England continues its never-ending bid to have deep pockets of WR3s. Smith-Schuster performed well enough last season as the Kansas City Chiefs used an interesting approach to replace Tyreek Hill's lost production. JuJu did his part and finished as fantasy's WR29. His floor and ceiling are much lower with the Patriots.

DeVante Parker suffered a knee sprain on the first play in Sunday's win. If he misses time, it'll likely only be one game. Could be back after the Week 10 bye.

Related Players: Jakobi Meyers, Tyquan Thornton, Kendrick Bourne

Regardless of whether or not Parker is in the lineup, the Patriots passing game has a capped ceiling, with Mac Jones keeping most of his targets around the line of scrimmage. His 4.7 aDOT in Week 8 is about as low as you will see in an NFL game. Jakobi Meyers has blossomed into a solid WR2 for fantasy, while Tyquan Thornton could see some increased usage, though likely not enough to consider starting him in lineups.

With WRs Tyquan Thornton and Kendrick Bourne either hurt or sliding down the depth chart, Nelson Agholor has ascended throughout the summer.

Agholor's first season with New England ended with him accruing under 500 yards but he has built chemistry with quarterback Mac Jones while other pieces of the depth chart have moved backwards. Graff concludes his blurb claiming that Agholor could end up as Jones' number one receiver.

Patriots WR Kendrick Bourne traveled with the Patriots to Las Vegas for their joint practices and preseason game this week against the Raiders.

It was a weird week for Bourne, who was removed from practice due to an apparent uniform issue on Tuesday and then ejected for fighting on Wednesday. He then didn’t play Friday against the Panthers, helping to lead to some trade speculation. But he will be in Vegas with the team; certainly needed now that the Patriots don’t have Tyquan Thornton, so they are in need of depth at receiver.

At pretty much every step along the way, Tyquan Thornton’s stock has continued to rise. That trend continued on Tuesday.

Related players: Jakobi Meyers, DeVante Parker, Kendrick Bourne, Nelson Agholor

The story said this week is a big chance for Thornton to prove he can reach the next stage in his development. It went on to say Thornton started practice off with a bang. He won both one-on-one reps, with the second ending with a diving catch in the end zone. In team drills, Thornton continued to pop. He repeatedly got open for Mac Jones, including one rep where he beat 2020 first-round pick C.J. Henderson. Thornton seems buried down the depth chart, though. There have been rumors the team will move Agholor which could bump up Thornton, but for now he should be considered a deeper league stash and a player to keep an eye on.