Danny Amendola was the talk of the town during last year’s free agency. He was supposed to be the next Wes Welker for the Patriots. Welker was getting old and was — supposedly — dispensable. But Welker went on to catch 10 touchdowns last season, which dwarfed his “replacement” Amendola’s two touchdowns.
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While Amendola got relatively big money as far as the Patriots are willing to spend on a wide receiver, the team may not be all the invested in him long-term. He could be gone as soon as preseason. ESPN Boston reporter, Mike Reiss thinks that Amendola is not necessarily a lock to make the team. He listed Amendola as a “near lock.” Unfortunately, he provides no context for Amendola’s categorization.
It’s hard to imagine a scenario where Amendola doesn’t make the roster. Despite his injury history, Amendola was actually quite brilliant on the field. The only issue with Amendola could be his contract. If the Patriots thought they were spending too much money on a player than oftentimes seems broken, then they may let him go. However, he is at 100 percent right now and played well through OTAs. So there isn’t any trouble on the home front.
And if there was any real trepidation about Amendola’s contract, the Patriots would have been better served to release Amendola back in March when $2 million of his $3 million dollar contract was guaranteed. So Mike Reiss may think that Amendola is a “near lock,” but let’s move him on up to the “lock” category, shall we? What do you think? Hit us up in the comments section.