With a 2022 salary cap figure of just less than $15 million, Patriots wide receiver has the third-highest salary cap charge on the New England roster and ranks fifth in the NFL among all receivers.
That’s a lot of money for a guy who had a disappointing first season in Foxborough a year ago with just 37 catches for 473 yards with three touchdowns, despite starting 13 of the 15 games he played and logging 73 percent of New England’s offensive snaps.
Agholor’s inflated pay – which includes a $10 million dead cap hit if he were to be cut – is a big part of why the Patriots allocate the third-most money in the NFL to the receiver position yet still have seemingly significant questions regarding its impact to the offense.
As such, it’s no surprise that one of the first questions Agholor faced in a Zoom call with local reporters was in regards to his high salary cap figure and whether the team has come to him to rework his contract.
“I don’t focus on that,” Agholor said, understanding the need for the question to be asked. “I’m here for a reason and I love the opportunity that’s given to me to be a Patriot, to work hard and the best part about it is in year two in the Patriots system is when guys really get going. I feel comfortable and I’m excited to have my best season with the Patriots and show why I’m here.”
But there are plenty of other receivers here in New England to compete for jobs and roles in 2022 as well. Jakobi Meyers (83 receptions in 2021) and Kendrick Bourne (55), the top two pass-catchers at the position are back. The team also traded for veteran DeVante Parker, a former 1,200-yard receiver with the Dolphins, and used a second-round pick on speedy Baylor product Tyquan Thornton.
“This is the NFL, every year there is somebody good in front of you or behind you,” Agholor said. “So the job is to compete. That’s what you do, you compete. You compete and then things are put into play. I’m in a good place because I have no problem with that. I compete. I’m gonna compete and put my best foot forward and show my value and that’s it. Every year you gotta draft somebody. Every year you gotta try to make your team the best you can. And I think we did that with both those guys. They are super talented players and I think their ability will only allow me to get better by competing with their ability. I think they are quality players that will help my game rise to a certain standard, so I’m excited about that.”
Agholor also thinks he has a leg up on the newcomers and is well ahead of where he himself was a year ago thanks to the experiences of the last 12 months. He used the word “familiarity” while answering a number of different questions, something that seems to give him great comfort and confidence at this early point in his second season in New England.
“For me it’s familiarity first with the concepts,” Agholor said. “Familiarity with how we do things, whether it’s scheduling, training, all those things. And being more in the routine. I think it helps that I’m familiar with the environment, familiar with my coaching staff in terms of people in this building, strength staff, training staff. And I know the routes. Because the route tree is unique. Everybody runs certain routes, but the route tree is a little different than what I ran before. Now I know it, so I get to put my own spin on how we do things and play fast.
“So I’m just growing, practicing, putting stuff on tape and being comfortable with it. Putting my own flavor with what I put on tape. Whereas a year ago I was learning, so you do things at like a certain learning tempo. You never get to go just full speed because you want to make sure you are doing it right. So you kind of move with caution. Now I know what it looks like and I get to put my flavor on it. That’s the cool part about year two. You’ve done it. You have a year of tape of it. Now you self-study and you just play fast.”
Given all the questions about his contract and his disappointing first season in New England, one might think that Agholor was out to prove his doubters wrong and prove that he’s still the guy that averaged nearly 19 yards per catch while scoring eight touchdowns for the Raiders in 2020. But that’s not his style.
“I think I’m at my best when I just have fun, play fast,” Agholor said. “A lot of people have different ways of carrying motivation, they carry a chip on their shoulder and things like that. I’m competitor naturally. I love to compete. I love to play the game. When I have fun with the game, and I have fun with the guys and play hard and practice hard I do really well. So I’m in a really happy place and super excited about the work that’s coming from being in that happy place and the growth that’s coming from it. So my motivation is to make it a memorable season with this team and the guys that I play alongside with and let it be something special.”
