The Patriots met with Leonard Fournette during his 2022 free-agency stay. Nearly 18 months later, the sides will meet again. Fournette is set to work out for the Pats on Wednesday, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets.
New England has been kicking the tires on running back depth, per the Boston Herald’s Doug Kyed, and has been in the Dalvin Cook mix for a bit now. Fournette’s market is not expected to reach the Cook level, opening the door to a lower-cost Pats addition at the position.
Fournette, 28, met with the Patriots in March 2022 but ended up back with the Buccaneers on a three-year, $21M deal. Fournette and the Bucs mutually parted ways in March this year, but not much has come out regarding the former top-five pick’s market since. Fournette joins the likes of Cook, Ezekiel Elliott and Kareem Hunt as notable free-agent backs available.
A former No. 4 overall Jaguars pick, Fournette served as the centerpiece of an offense that faced the Patriots in the 2017 AFC Championship Game. Three years later, Fournette came on late to make major contributions in the Bucs’ Super Bowl LV-winning season. Tampa Bay rewarded Fournette with contracts in 2021 and ’22. The latter deal included $12M guaranteed. That contract was in line with what the Cardinals gave James Conner, but this offseason brought carnage at the running back position, which sits in a strange place after numerous cost-cutting measures — and Monday’s lack of extensions for three franchise-tagged players — reduced its standing further.
Adding Fournette would seemingly remove the Pats from the Cook market. It is worth wondering if recent events will impact Cook offers as well. Fournette will be in Foxborough Wednesday, exploring a possible partnership with a third NFL team.
The Bucs ranked last in rushing in 2022; Fournette’s yards per carry dropped by a full yard. The LSU product averaged 4.5 per tote in 2021, but as just about everything on the Bucs offense worsened last year, the team’s starting back averaged a 3.5 yards per handoff. Fournette totaled 1,191 scrimmage yards, however, contributing a career-high 523 through the air. Fournette, who earned the “Playoff Lenny” alias for his work during the Bucs’ Super Bowl march, finished with 448 scrimmage yards in the team’s four 2020 playoff games. Prior to a hamstring injury that shut Fournette down in Week 15 of the 2021 season, he totaled 1,266 scrimmage yards as the team's lead back.
Rhamondre Stevenson resides as the starter for the Pats, with Kyed adding Pierre Strong has a chance to solidify the No. 2 role. The team being connected to multiple big-name backs could impede the second-year player’s RB2 quest. Stevenson’s status as the team’s starter, especially after Damien Harris' free-agency exit, should not be considered in jeopardy, but the team may be set to bring in a proven back to complement him soon.
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