The New England Patriots sign former Hunter Henry of the Los Angeles Chargers for a three-year contract for $ 37.5 million, including $ 25 million guaranteed, a source told Adam Schefter of ESPN.
Henry, who turned 27 in December, clicked with rookie defender Justin Herbert and had the best 60 career receptions for 613 yards and four touchdowns for the Chargers last season.
He will join a Patriots team that is undergoing captive review. On Monday, the team agreed to a total of nearly $ 100 million worth of contracts for Jonnu Smith and big receivers Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick has long favored a two-stage approach, using first-round picks in 2002 (Daniel Graham) and 2004 (Benjamin Watson), and later teaming up with Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez in the second decade as coach of the Patriots.
He will now have Henry with Smith to help address a position that has been somewhat non-existent since Gronkowski’s departure in 2018. No other NFL team has had a lower pass production output in the past two seasons.
Henry (6-foot-5, £ 250) played at the franchise auction last season, earning $ 10.6 million.
He hasn’t played a full season in his NFL career yet and missed the last two games last season after being placed on the reserve list / COVID-19. He missed the entire regular season of 2018 after breaking an ACL and four games in 2019 after suffering a tibial plateau fracture in an opening win of the week over the Indianapolis Colts.
Selected by the Chargers in the second round of the 2016 draft, Henry has 196 receptions for 2,322 yards and 21 touchdowns in five NFL seasons.
Belichick has long admired Henry, saying in December that he has pursued his career since he was at Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, Arkansas, under the leadership of innovative high school coach Kevin Kelley.
Mike Reiss and Shelley Smith contributed to this report.