28-Year-Old Wide Receiver Resigns with New England

Since being drafted in 2017, 28-year-old wide receiver Kendrick Bourne has played with the San Francisco 49ers and the New England Patriots. New England was already having a down year with a 2-5 record through seven games, but in Week Eight, Bourne tore his ACL and missed the rest of the 2023 NFL season. He became a free agent at the end of the season. Now healthy, and rested up for the 2024 season, Kendrick has just signed a three-year deal worth up to 33 million dollars back with the Patriots. 

Kendrick Bourne played four years of college ball at Eastern Washington University. During his time in college, he recorded over 3,000 receiving yards with 27 touchdown catches. The Niners would sign Bourne to a three-year deal as an undrafted free agent. Although he started as the fifth receiving option for San Francisco in 2017, and 2018, by the end of the 2018 season he led all of the 49ers wide receivers in receiving yards and receptions. Eventually, he signed another three-year deal this time with the New England Patriots in 2021. Due to the Patriots struggling year in and year out for the past couple of seasons, Bourne’s numbers steadily started to decline. The 28-year-old wide receiver hopes that all changes, starting in 2024.

In eight games played last season, Kendrick had 37 receptions for 406 yards and four touchdown catches. His best game had to be in Week Six during a 21-17 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. In the loss, Bourne had ten receptions for 89 yards. During his seven-year career, the 28-year-old wide receiver has 264 receptions for 3,409 receiving yards with 21 touchdowns. With the Pats this season, Kendrick Bourne has an opportunity to mentor some of the young receivers, while still competing with the top receivers on the depth chart. Hopefully, he’ll have a better and more productive 2024 season.