5 Patriots leave New England in the new year

After recruiting Maye, the Patriots’ top priority was to surround him with reliable weapons. It looked like they had found the perfect threat in their new franchise quarterback when they selected wideout Ja’Lynn Polk just 34 picks later.

The 22-year-old playmaker showed a ton of potential in his final year with the Washington Huskies, accumulating 1,159 receiving yards and nine touchdowns on 69 catches. While it wouldn’t be easy to achieve similar results at the NFL level, hopeful New England fans were optimistic about Polk’s rookie year.

Week 18 is here and it’s safe to say there was more bad than good in Polk’s first taste of NFL action. The rookie playmaker has caught just 12 of 33 targets (36.4%) for 87 receiving yards and two touchdowns in 15 games. His performance deteriorated week to week, as evidenced by him only having one catch for seven yards in his last six appearances.

Not every rookie has immediate success in the NFL, but it looks like the Patriots made a big mistake by drafting Polk at No. 37 overall in April. He is one of the team’s most unreliable targets and produces almost no power whenever he has the ball in his hands. It’s hard to imagine him improving much when he hasn’t posted double-digit yards since Week 5.

If an outside team still believes in Polk’s potential and is willing to pay a fair price for his services, the Patriots could be willing to trade the struggling receiver this offseason.