Patriots cut rookie WR Chris Harper, who fumbled vs. Broncos
The New England Patriots cut rookie WR Chris Harper, who muffed a punt in Sunday night’s loss to the Denver Broncos.
The New England Patriots are apparently not blaming everything on the officials after Sunday night’s loss to the Denver Broncos. The team has cut rookie WR Chris Harper, a player that I really liked in the pre-draft process who seemed like a big time steal after a strong pre-season for the Patriots.
Stepping in for the injured Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola as the punt returner on Sunday night, Harper fumbled at the time when the Broncos needed it most, the Patriots up 21-7 and Denver’s offense seemingly going nowhere.
The Broncos scored their second touchdown of the game off of Harper’s fumble, and the rest of the game is history.
Harper is the scapegoat here for the Patriots, though Bill Belichick lauded his team after the game for how hard they played. I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t at least suggest that the Broncos find a way to sneak Harper on to the roster or the practice squad at some point here. Harper is a good young player who made a mistake.
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It’s something that it seems like Belichick would do to the Broncos, so John Elway should give him a taste of his own medicine, though the Patriots might not even care since they are the ones who released Harper.
Still, it would be fun to see Harper stick it to the team that basically blamed him for their sole loss of the season in a situation that was completely unfavorable for him. The Broncos are missing the elite quickness from the slot position, and I think Harper is a player that could provide it.
Obviously he’s not going to bump Andre Caldwell, Cody Latimer, Bennie Fowler, or even Jordan Norwood in the rotation right now, which is why I think it might be wise for the team to first pursue him as a practice squad player, but it would be really great to see Elway find a way to bring him in.
Here’s my scouting report on Harper from before the 2015 NFL Draft.