What does acquisition of WR Kenny Britt mean for Patriots offense?

The Patriots are in the process of finalizing a deal to acquire free-agent wide receiver Kenny Britt, according to ESPN’s Field Yates. The deal would include the 2018 season, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

Britt is a 6-foot-3, 215-pounder who had his best season with the Rams in 2016, finishing with 68 catches for 1,002 yards and five touchdowns. However, the 29-year-old has played for three different teams in his nine-year career — the Titans, Rams and Browns — and comes to New England with his share of baggage. Britt was suspended in 2012 for a DUI, which was, according to reports, his eighth run-in with the law in four years.

Three things immediately come to mind when it comes to the possibility of Britt in a Patriots’ uniform:


1. The Patriots have done this before. Last year, they acquired Michael Floyd in December when he was fresh off a DUI, and while Floyd wasn’t a huge part of the offense down the stretch and into the playoffs, he provided some depth at the receiver spot, as well as one of the more memorable blocks of the season.



That being said, the level of expectation on Britt this season might be greater than it was on Floyd last year, simply because there are more depth questions this season. Like Floyd, it'll also be a chance for him to prove himself as a good teammate and hit the reset button, at least from a public relations perspective. Not sure how quickly Britt will be able to get up to speed, but it’ll be interesting to see how the acclimation process goes for the former Rutgers standout (he played for Friend of Bill Belichick Greg Schiano as a collegian) who was a first-round pick of Tennessee in 2009.

2. Not sure what this means for Malcolm Mitchell and/or Phillip Dorsett, but it's probably not great, at least in the short term. They aren’t the exact same type of player, but from a skill-set perspective, there is some positional redundancy, particularly in the case of Dorsett, who has seven catches for 140 yards this season in limited action. And it’s not a colossal leap to suggest that Britt is in some way Mitchell insurance. If the youngster isn’t able to go, they have a guy in Britt who can do some of the same things that Mitchell was capable of achieving last year.

3. When the deal was announced, I exchanged texts with an NFC scout, who said this about Britt and New England’s decision to pick him up for the stretch run and the postseason: “They need fire power to make the run. Don’t have enough weapons for Brady as it stands.”