The New England Patriots have quietly been toiling away, trying to sign one of the last remaining top quality, young receivers in free agency.
Dolphins WR Rishard Matthews has managed to avoid the spotlight during the first day of free agency, but that's not due to lack of interest. Apparently the Patriots are working diligently behind the scenes to try and land the free agent receiver, and CSNNE's Mike Giardi reports that the team is "optimistic".
Source says Patriots are "optimistic" that they can get a deal done with WR Rishard Matthews. Don't know if there's any connection to Sanu
— Michael Giardi (@MikeGiardi) March 10, 2016
The three "big" name receivers that garnered attention during this anemic free agency period were Marvin Jones, who landed with the Lions after great consideration for the Patriots, Travis Benjamin, who signed with the Chargers, and Mohamed Sanu.
Sanu hasn't signed a deal and he has visits with the Falcons and the Patriots lined up. There are some rumors that the Falcons are offering Sanu upwards of $7 million per season, which is just insane.
But should Sanu receive that contract offer from Atlanta, I would expect that the Patriots would try their hardest to ensure Matthews doesn't leave New England.
Yahoo! Sports' Eric Edholm doesn't believe a deal will happen tonight, so we'll just have to wait and see tomorrow.
WR Rishard Matthews still negotiating with multiple teams, I'm told. Nothing expected to happen tonight. Something could develop Thursday.
— Eric Edholm (@Eric_Edholm) March 10, 2016