2022 NFL free agency: Patriots place second-round tender on restricted free agent Jakobi Meyers

The New England Patriots will keep wide receiver Jakobi Meyers in the fold for another season. According to his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, the team has decided to place the second-round tender on the restricted free agent.

Meyers will therefore not enter the open market at the start of free agency, and instead stay put. If he signs the tender, he will spend the 2022 season on what is essentially a one-year, $3.986 million contract.

The RFA tender does give other teams an opportunity to sign Meyers away, however. They could offer him a contract, which the Patriots would have five days to match. If not doing that, the wideout would leave New England; the team would receive a second-round draft pick as compensation in that case.

Meyer, 25, originally joined the Patriots as a rookie free agent in 2019. The N.C. State product eventually made New England’s 53-man roster, and has not looked back since. Over the following three years, he developed from a backup option into the team’s most reliable wide receiver.

In 2021, Meyers saw the field in all 17 regular season games as well as the playoff loss in Buffalo. Being on the field for 987 of a possible 1,169 offensive snaps, he led the team in both receptions (89) and yards (906). Meyers also scored a pair of receiving touchdowns — the first two of his career — while showing some solid chemistry with rookie starting quarterback Mac Jones.

With Meyers in the fold for the 2022 season, the Patriots currently have seven wide receivers under contract: Meyers, Kendrick Bourne, Nelson Agholor and N’Keal Harry, as well as futures options Kristian Wilkerson, Malcolm Perry and Tre Nixon.