Report: Patriots "Close" to Deal with Brandon Lloyd

Over the past three months, we've heard over and over again how former Broncos and Rams receiver Brandon Lloyd would like to follow offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to New England. With the Patriots in need of an outside receiver, a union between Lloyd and the Patriots almost made too much sense. However, up to this point, most of the perceived interest has come from Lloyd's side. This Saturday morning, that has changed. Shalise Manza Young of the Boston Globe is reporting that Lloyd and the Patriots are close to coming to a contract agreement:

A league source Friday night said that the 30-year-old Lloyd and the Patriots were "close'' to coming to a contract agreement. Once it's finalized, the team could potentially have the outside-the-numbers receiving threat it has been lacking since Randy Moss was traded a quarter of the way into the 2010 season.

Lloyd did numerous interviews before the start of free agency, and in nearly every one he praised the Patriots, saying he was interested in playing for New England and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, his head coach in Denver. Being so open in his desire to play for them likely didn't help Lloyd's leverage with the team, though agent Tom Condon tried to create some interest when Lloyd visited with San Francisco Wednesday.

Obviously, nothing is finalized yet. However, this is probably the most encouraging news Patriots fans have heard since the start of free agency on Tuesday.

Adding Lloyd to the fold would instantly make the Patriots offense significantly more dynamic. While Lloyd isn't a burner, he can go up and make downfield catches with the best of them. While he is a complete receiver in the sense that he can run the entire route tree, he certainly would be a threat that opposing defenses would have to respect deep. Having him around would almost certainly open up the underneath stuff for Wes Welker, and would make it more difficult for teams to double team Rob Gronkowski over the middle and down the seams.