Jordan Schultz: Even if the Patriots target WR in the NFL Draft, they need to sign a proven guy

On Tuesday's edition of Zolak & Bertrand, Jordan Schultz of Fox Sports explained why he thinks the Patriots need to add another proven wide receiver, even if they're targeting pass catchers in the NFL Draft.

Amari Cooper? Brandin Cooks? Keenan Allen?

Marc Bertrand: 

Of the guys who are left, let me add this in, is there any chance they pick up one of these older veteran guys that are still kind of lingering out there? 

Jordan Schultz: 

Yeah, it's been a really tough veteran wide receiver market. They really wanted Tee Higgins. They were in on Chris Godwin. They have been in on a lot of guys but being in on someone and landing them are two very different things. You mentioned some of the veteran wide receivers still left. Amari Cooper, Brandin Cooks, Keenan Allen. There are guys still available. The question becomes, if you're the Patriots and you're Eliot Wolf and Ryan Cowden, are you looking at the draft and do you have one or two guys that you identify as real transcendent type of players? Or do you feel like you have to get a veteran now? Which I think they need to do regardless, even if they look at the draft and they say we like this guy, we love this player, you still in my opinion need to go out and get a proven guy. I don't know if that is an Amari Cooper or a Brandin Cooks or a Keenan Allen. But you need to get someone that has had professional success, and Mack Hollins is a good player, but if you're Drake Maye, you're looking at your roster right now and you see Ja’Lynn Polk, a good young player, but you don't have an established veteran. So, I just would love to go out if I'm New England and get one of these guys that has consistently been productive in the league. That to me is priority #1 because you've obviously addressed many other positions, but you still haven't really addressed the most important position, which is finding help for your franchise quarterback. 

Listen to the full segment!

It's been a wild week, a wild month, and a wild year so far, Pats-wise. So let's give you a Patriots offseason recap (so far).

On the Toucher & Hardy show, we brought back our slate of regular contributors that join us during the NFL season. We figured they'd all have plenty to say about the Patriots early free agency moves, of which there were many.

Our own Alex Barth joined us on Monday to preview the week ahead and to showcase our Offseason Hub. That's the place to go to keep track of every move the Pats make and get same-day reactions from the Sports Hub hosts.

Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald joined us for an hour on Tuesday to ask if the Pats onslaught of moves missed the mark. On Wednesday, ESPN Patriots insider Mike Reiss predicted an uptick in the win column for New England in 2025.

On Thursday, Phil Perry of NBC Sports Boston was in the mix as the news was breaking of longtime Pats center David Andrews being cut from the team. Then, to round out the week, Bert Breer spent an hour with us on Friday to recap and react.

Get all the videos below, the hit the Sports Hub YouTube page for more of our Patriots offseason recap (so far).

Pre-free agency moves were the topic du jour with the Barthtender on Monday.

There was so much to cover with Andrew on Tuesday we didn't even have time for 2 Stats, 1 Lie.

Mike Reiss joins us on Mondays during the Patriots season. He moved to Wednesday this week.

Phil handled the breaking David Andrews news like a pro during his Thursday visit.

We had a "Bert Blast!" on Friday recapping a wild week for the Patriots.