Patriots finalize new deal with important offensive weapon

The New England Patriots traded for wide receiver DeVante Parker last offseason in hopes that he’d return to the form he showed in 2019, when he notched 1,202 yards and nine touchdowns for the Miami Dolphins.

Parker wasn’t quite that player for the Patriots in 2022, but he was an important piece of the offensive puzzle for a team that — quite frankly — didn’t have much of an offensive plan. When you go into a season with Matt Patricia and Joe Judge as your co-offensive coordinators, the expectations can’t be high.

With Bill O’Brien now in the offensive driver’s seat and quarterback Mac Jones potentially ready to step back into the spotlight, it does seem like New England is ready to go into 2023 with some focus and renewed expectations. Speaking of expectations, they’ve offered Parker a new, re-structured deal, per ESPN’s Mike Reis.

As part of the 2022 trade, the Patriots had inherited the contract Parker worked out with the Dolphins, meaning that he still had two years remaining and was expecting to make $5.7 million in 2023.

The new contract is an extension through 2025, which will allow Parker to make up to $33 million including per-game roster bonuses, playing time and performance incentives. 

The good news for the Pats is that Parker’s 2023 base salary is now expected to go down. The good news for Parker is that if he hits all of his incentives, he can actually make more than the $5.7 he was originally scheduled to earn in 2023 — and the deal is expected to have similar structure for 2024 and 2025.

Parker notched 31 catches for 539 yards and three touchdowns in 13 games last season for the Patriots, playing 51% of New England’s offensive snaps. 

The Patriots signed JuJu Smith-Schuster this offseason in an effort to bolster an offense that notched just 208 yards per game through the air. Parker and Smith-Schuster, along with Kendrick Bourne and Tyquan Thornton, are expected to be a major part of New England’s passing attack in 2023.