N’Keal Harry’s once-promising-turned-disappointing career with the New England Patriots appears to be over.
According to the NFL Network’s Mike Garafalo, Harry, who would have had to battle to make the Patriots out of training camp, is headed to the Chicago Bears. Garafolo tweeted:
“The #Patriots have traded WR N’Keal Harry to the #Bears, sources tell me and @RapSheet. Former first-round pick gets a shot at a fresh start.”
According to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, the Patriots will get a seventh-round pick in 2024 and picked up $1 million in salary-cap space.
Harry, the Patriots’ first-round pick in the 2019 draft, battled injury and inconsistency throughout his New England career. He had 57 catches for 598 yards and four touchdowns in his three seasons. He missed 16 games during that time, due to injury and being a healthy scratch.
The Patriots declined their fifth-year option on Harry in May. He would have been guaranteed $12.425 million for next season if New England had picked up the option. Harry caught 12 passes for 184 yards and was a healthy scratch at one point in favor of practice-squad member Kristian Wilkerson.
The Patriots traded for DeVante Parker, drafted Tyquan Thornton and signed Lil’Jordan Humphrey, making Harry a longshot to make the team.
The Patriots will go into training camp later this month with the following wide receivers:
– DeVante Parker
– Kendrick Bourne
– Jakobi Meyers
– Nelson Agholor
– Tyquan Thornton
– Ty Montgomery
– Lil’Jordan Humphrey
– Kristian Wilkerson
– Tre Nixon
Story by Matt Vautour, masslive.com