Patriots releasing WR Malcolm Mitchell

The Patriots are releasing wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell, a league source confirmed.

Mitchell, who turned 25 last month, played a sizable role in New England’s Super Bowl run in 2016. He caught 32 passes for 401 yards and four touchdowns as a rookie, and managed to win the trust of quarterback Tom Brady along the way.

However, knee issues robbed him of 2017. And when he was only limited to a cameo appearance in the spring workouts, it appeared the writing was on the wall for the Georgia product.

BSJ analysis: Putting Mitchell’s career in New England into some sort of context and wondering where the Patriots go from here

All you really need to know about Mitchell can be found in the below chart. It’s the list of the best seasons for any rookie receiver of the Brady Era.



Of course, there’s no way of knowing if Mitchell would have been capable of reaching the same heights as Deion Branch and Julian Edelman, but that’s good company to be in. Mitchell, who had a remarkable backstory just to reach the NFL, was dependable and as conscientious as Branch and Edelman. Along the way, he did everything he needed to win the trust of the quarterback.

"I’ve just been impressed with him since the day he came in, and just his personality’s infectious," Brady said of Mitchell in 2016. "He’s a very positive person, and he made a great play today, made a lot of great plays. He’s growing along with everybody else. It’s been really great to see.”

The good news? They spent all last season without Mitchell, so they're familiar when it comes to how to work around his absence. The bad news? Even with the uncertainty around Mitchell and his health, New England's receiver position was already pretty thin after departures of Danny Amendola and Brandin Cooks and the looming suspension of Edelman. If Mitchell was healthy, he would have been asked to take on more in 2018. But now, I’d expect others to be asked to fill the void, including newcomer Eric Decker and -- potentially -- Kenny Britt.