Kendrick Bourne has played his final snap with the New England Patriots.
The organization granted the veteran wide receiver his release on Wednesday after trade negotiations with the Minnesota Vikings went unfinalized, according to reports from NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero and the Boston Herald’s Andrew Callahan.
Bourne, who turned 30 this August, had been sidelined for the preseason due to a foot injury sustained early in training camp. He was among eight wide receivers on the initial 53-man roster at
Gillette Stadium as Tuesday’s 4 p.m. ET NFL deadline passed.
Cap hits of $7.7 million for 2025 and $7.9 million for 2026 were on the horizon, per OverTheCap.com, after Bourne signed a three-year, $19.5 million contract last offseason. He stood with $5.5 million guaranteed in the agreement.
Entering the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted free agent out in 2017, Bourne stands 111 games into his career. The Eastern Washington product’s tenure in Foxborough brought 155 receptions for 1,945 yards and 11 touchdowns dating back to 2020. He started 21 of his 53 appearances, which began under past and present offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, and sustained a torn ACL in the fall of 2023.
Last campaign brought 28 catches for 305 yards and one visit to the end zone.
“It’s not going to be given,” Bourne told reporters of New England’s wideout competition in July. “You have to earn everything. Even for myself, seniority or whatever you want to call it, vet presence, it doesn’t matter. I got to practice hard, I got to show up in preseason, whatever that looks like.”
The 6-foot-1, 205-pound Bourne outlasted the cutdown as part of a depth chart featuring Stefon Diggs, Mack Hollins, DeMario Douglas, Kayshon Boutte, Kyle Williams, Efton Chism III and Javon Baker.
