{"id":854078,"date":"2026-04-04T22:44:25","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T22:44:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/854078\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T22:44:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T22:44:25","slug":"patriots-insider-suggests-drafting-target-monster-wr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/854078\/","title":{"rendered":"Patriots Insider Suggests Drafting \u2018Target Monster\u2019 WR"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/topic\/sports-nfl-patriots\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">New England Patriots<\/a> may not be done adding to the wide receiver room this offseason.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">As Patriots insider <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsportsboston.com\/nfl\/new-england-patriots\/best-wide-receiver-fits-2026-nfl-draft\/779787\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Phil Perry of NBC Sports Boston<\/a> noted, the team hasn\u2019t shot down the A.J. Brown trade rumors, and Perry added that the Patriots could go for \u201ctop-end talent\u201d in the draft. One prospect with big talent and likely will slip out of the first round could land the Patriots\u2019 way on Day Two, and Perry is calling him a steal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">That\u2019s Louisville wide receiver Chris Bell, who had 151 receptions for 2,166 yards and 12 touchdowns for the Cardinals in his college career.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">More News: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=DeVeOia4akI\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kirk Cousins Indirectly Warned Fernando Mendoza Before Joining Raiders<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img id=\"11783603\" alt=\"Chris Bell\" caption=\"Chris Bell #WO03 of Louisville  speaks during a press conference at the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium on February 27, 2026 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Cooper Neill\/Getty Images)\" credit=\"\" sourcealt=\"\" sources=\"[]\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"8640\" height=\"5760\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" style=\"color:transparent;aspect-ratio:inherit;object-fit:cover\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Chris-Bell.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">More News: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/sports\/nfl\/dre-greenlaw-denver-broncos-san-francisco-49ers-11766190\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dre Greenlaw Gets Honest on Short-Lived Broncos Stint<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">\u201cA target monster for the Cardinals, Bell \u2014 whose receivers coach was former Patriots wideout Deion Branch \u2014 was a threat to take it to the house any time he caught a slant or a shallow cross and had some room to run,\u201d Perry wrote. \u201cHis breakaway speed was apparent against one of the best and most athletic defenses in the country when he shredded Miami for nine catches, 136 yards and two scores in a 24-21 win.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">Bell has a great frame at 6-foot-2, 222 pounds, and Perry called him a \u201cphysically-dominant No. 1 option\u201d with similarities to Brown. The Patriots pick at No. 36 and No. 95 on Day Two of the draft, and the first-team All-ACC star could boost the wide receiver room and give quarterback Drake Maye a quality target.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">\u201cWhy won\u2019t he be a first-rounder in all likelihood? He tore his ACL at the end of the season,\u201d Perry wrote. \u201cBut if the Patriots like their depth for the here-and-now at receiver, and if they\u2019re unsure on a trade for Brown, might they be willing to roll the dice on Bell and his Brown-ish skill set?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">\u201cBell could end up being a steal in the second round in a draft that is short on high-end talent,\u201d Perry concluded.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_blockParagraph__I2kr4\">More News: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/sports\/nfl\/new-york-giants-dj-davison-washington-commanders-11766126\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Former New York Giants DT Joins NFC East Rival\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New England Patriots may not be done adding to the wide receiver room this offseason. As Patriots&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":854079,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2050],"tags":[7,1167,249,2326,2094,6,208],"class_list":{"0":"post-854078","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-england-patriots","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-new-england","10":"tag-new-england-patriots","11":"tag-newengland","12":"tag-newenglandpatriots","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-patriots"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116348864987475576","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=854078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854078\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/854079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=854078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=854078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=854078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}