Kendrick Bourne won’t request a trade, wants to back with Patriots in 2023

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – Coming off the best statistical year of his career, Kendrick Bourne had high hopes for the 2022 Patriots season. When it all ended on Sunday night, Bourne admitted this past year didn’t turn out how he hoped.

However, Bourne doesn’t enter the 2023 offseason upset with the coaching staff over a diminished role in the offense. He also said he won’t be seeking a trade. Instead, the former Eastern Washington wide receiver is hoping to help Mac Jones and the Patriots offense get back on track.

“No man, I definitely want to be back here. I like it here. I love it here,” Bourne told MassLive, a Springfield, Massachusetts-based media company. “This is a team locker room, man. It’s not about one player. It’s not about two players. It’s about the whole team. I think the Patriots do a good job of making that known and making that understood. I’m a good role guy. I would love to be and I am going to be back.”

Bourne enters 2023 in the final year of his contract. The 27-year-old is set to make a base salary of $4.75 million and will have an overall cap hit of around $6.9 million.

In 2021, his first season in New England, Bourne finished with a career-high 55 catches to go with a career-high 800 receiving yards. He also tied a career-high with five receiving touchdowns to go with a career-high 125 rushing yards. The 925 yards from scrimmage were also a career best.

Bourne looked like one of the Patriots most dynamic offensive weapons, which is why it was befuddling to see the offensive coaching staff not use him as much in 2022. This season, Bourne finished with 35 catches to go with 434 yards and one touchdown. After playing 573 offensive snaps in 2021, he played just 441 snaps this season.

His potential was seen in Week 16 when he caught six passes for 100 yards and a touchdown against Cincinnati.

Although he was critical of the Patriots play-calling after a Week 13 loss to Buffalo, Bourne said he worked hard this season to not be a distraction.

“Not trying to create any problems or anything like that. That’s just how football goes for many players. You have ups and downs,” Bourne said. “It’s all about how you respond. I’m trying to respond the best way I can in a positive way. Just work and not really talk too much.”

Bourne finished the season with fewer snaps played than Jakobi Meyers (690), DeVante Parker (545), Tyquan Thornton (527) and Nelson Agholor (476). Considering Bourne finished with more receiving yards (434) than Agholor (362) and Thornton (247), it’s fair to ask if he was unhappy and would want to be on a different team in 2023.

“No, no, no,” Bourne said when asked about a trade request. “Just locking in. Talk to the coaches and see what they thought about me this year in the next meetings and then going from there and trying to grow.”

Bourne said he saw himself grow in different ways this season.

“It’s about just coming in and working and trying to be better each year. Stats didn’t say I got better, but I believe mentally, physically and spiritually I got better,” Bourne said. “The stats don’t always say that but I’ve grown as a man just going through ups and downs.”

The NFL is a business. That goes for teams like the Patriots and players like Bourne. A down year statistically is tough for players to handle mentally. They know they only get so long to play professional football in their lives.

Despite having a rough season in 2022, Bourne heads into the offseason motivated and thankful to his teammates for helping him along the way.

“We’ve got a tight knit group. … The locker room is a big thing that helped me this year lock in and focus and not get too caught up in everything that I went through,” Bourne said. “I love the guys. Next year, I think we’ll be much better.”