Ja’Lynn Polk is a New England Patriot no more. A 2024 second-round draft pick by the team just last year, Polk has been traded to the New Orleans Saints as part of a late-round pick exchange.
The move closes the book on what was a brief and ultimately underwhelming tenure for the young wideout. What else does it mean for the club, though? Let’s take a closer look at the move with the big picture in mind.
Fresh start for both parties
When Polk arrived in Foxborough, the hope was that he and quarterback Drake Maye would become a longterm
QB-WR combo capable of leading the offense for the foreseeable future. That plan never materialized: while the young wideout was heavily involved early on in his tenure — he was effectively WR1 for New England over the first quarter of the 2024 season — the two rookies did not develop parallel to one another.
When Maye was inserted into the starting lineup in Week 6, Polk was already on the downswing. After catching nine passes for 74 yards and a touchdown over the first five weeks of the season, he had only three more receptions for 13 yards and another score from Week 6 on. His playing time dropped from 69.6 percent to 33.8 percent before a shoulder ailment prompted the team to move him to injured reserve ahead of Week 18.
Polk recovered from the injury (at least initially), but he never truly recovered from falling out of favor. Even with a new coaching staff in town, he struggled to earn a regular role in the offense and looked like a realistic cut candidate. Re-injuring his shoulder in the preseason opener and undergoing season-ending surgery might have just saved his spot on the team, but the writing had been on the wall: New England and the 23-year-old were headed for a split, one way or the other.
Newest wide receiver bust
The Patriots may have changed regimes in 2024, promoting Eliot Wolf to succeed Bill Belichick as de facto general manager, but they did not change their ability to draft and develop wide receivers. Polk is now the latest in a depressingly long list of early-round busts at the position, joining the likes of Tyquan Thornton, N’Keal Harry, Aaron Dobson, and others.
To make matters worse, the other wide receiver drafted in 2024 also flamed out. Javon Baker, who saw more consistent action on special teams than offense this summer, was waived after making the initial 53-man roster earlier this month and currently resides on the Philadelphia Eagles’ practice squad.
Another 2024 draft pick bites the dust
Polk was one of eight players selected in Eliot Wolf’s first draft as head of the Patriots’ personnel department. With him now gone, only three of them remain with the team 17 months after their arrival: starting quarterback Drake Maye and backup guard Caedan Wallace are on the active roster, with cornerback/special teamer Marcellas Dial Jr. on season-ending injured reserve.
The rest of the group is no longer with the team. That includes the aforementioned Polk and Baker as well as guard Layden Robinson, quarterback Joe Milton and tight end Jaheim Bell.
It is unrealistic to expect every draft pick to turn into a starter by Year 2, but the Patriots are looking at a hit rate of just 12.5 percent in that regard: Maye, the third overall pick in the draft, is the only one of the three players left currently starting; it would be a surprise if Wallace or Dial Jr. joined him anytime soon.
The self-proclaimed “draft and develop” Patriots cannot be happy with that.
Receiver rebuild continues
New England’s wide receiver position has been a concern long before Ja’Lynn Polk entered the mix last April (one could even make the argument that the last time that was not the case was early in the 2019 season), and that remains the case to this day. The team, however, is actively trying to address the issue.
Besides picking Polk and Javon Baker in the 2024 draft, the Patriots also added veteran free agents Stefon Diggs and Mack Hollins as well as third-round choice Kyle Williams and promising rookie free agent Efton Chism this offseason. Time will tell whether they can turn the group’s fortunes around, but the willingness to remain flexible and continue the rebuild is obvious.
As a consequence, New England’s wide receiver room now looks as follows:
53-man roster (6): Kayshon Boutte (9), DeMario Douglas (3), Stefon Diggs (8), Mack Hollins (13), Kyle Williams (18), Efton Chism III (86)
Practice squad (2): John Jiles (83), Jeremiah Webb (29)
Minimal gains
The Patriots trading Polk to the Saints has an impact on both the Patriots’ draft capital and their salary cap. The first is obvious: the team gained a sixth-round pick in 2027 while also giving up a seventh-rounder in 2028. Those are the first moves by the club involving selections in either of those years, meaning that New England currently owns eight selections in 2027 and six in 2028. The team owns nine in 2026.
Financially, the move sends Polk’s fully-guaranteed contract to the Saints. However, not all of the pact is actually transferring off of New England’s books: Polk’s remaining base salaries for the 2025, 2026 and 2027 seasons are headed to the NFC South, while the remainder of his signing bonus prorated over the length of his original four-year deal is staying put.
What does this mean in terms of numbers? The Patriots are saving roughly $1.1 million worth of base salary against their cap this year followed by $1.7 million and $2.1 million in 2026 and 2027, respectively. Meanwhile, their dead cap number will increase by $967,681 — his 2025 signing bonus proration — this season and $1.9 million in 2026.
