Patriots

“The Patriots have gotten calls about WR Kendrick Bourne, but they’ve told teams he’s not available,” tweeted Jeff Howe of The Athletic.

Patriots wide receiver Kendrick Bourne is not available to be traded, according to Jeff Howe of The Athletic.

“The Patriots have gotten calls about WR Kendrick Bourne, but they’ve told teams he’s not available, per sources,” Howe tweeted Tuesday morning.

The report comes hours before the NFL deadline to trim rosters to 53. The Patriots have until 4 p.m. on Tuesday to finalize their initial 53-man roster.

After a promising 2021 season, during which he caught 55 passes for 800 yards and five touchdowns, Bourne took a step backwards in 2022.

He scored one touchdown last year, and his numbers were down pretty much across the board in terms of targets, catches, yards, yards per catch, and longest catch.

But this season, Bourne appears to be in position to regain his status as a major contributor for this Patriots offense. He says he’s in the best shape of his life, and has strung together a number of strong performances in preseason practices.

“Yeah, KB’s [Kendrick Bourne] has had a really good off season. Really good in every way,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick told reporters in July. “Physically it was good, mentally it was good, participation was good. He was good on the field, good off the field. Yeah, he had a really good offseason.”

Bourne, along with newcomer JuJu Smith-Schuster and DeVante Parker, appear to be at the top of the Patriots’ depth chart at wide receiver.

Rookie receiver Demario Douglas has been impressive during camp, but hasn’t seen much NFL game action yet. Rookie receiver Kayshon Boutte and second-year speedster Tyquan Thornton could end up rounding out the receiver group, if the Patriots choose to keep six receivers.

While there’s a long way to go on cutdown day and beyond, and there’s always the possibility of things changing, it appears that Bourne will remain a Patriot for the foreseeable future according to Howe.