The New England Patriots made sense for Hunter Henry in free agency for a number of reasons. Bill Belichick has always had an affinity for the tight end, going back to Henry’s high school days. Heading into free agency, New England had plenty of cap space and a tremendous need at tight end.
Within hours of the tampering window opening, however, the Patriots targeted tight end Jonnu Smith. At that point, Henry thought New England was out of the mix for him.
“Obviously when I saw [Smith] go to the Patriots right out of the gate, I was like, ‘wow.’ I was really happy for him. I just didn’t know if it was going to happen for me, too,” Henry said during a videoconference on Monday.
But we all know how it ended. New England was actually interested in doubling up at tight end by signing both of the best players at the position in free agency.
“We started talking again and got to figure it out and I was fired up to join, too. I just feel like (Smith and I) can complement each other in a cool way. Obviously, the Patriots have had a lot of success with tight ends. I’m excited to be able to hopefully add to that,” Henry said.
The Patriots spent big to combine Henry and Smith, with each player getting $12.5 million per year.
Henry is a pass-catching tight end, and though he has never completed an NFL season, he has put up three of his four seasons with 45 catches or more and 550 yards or more. In 2020, he had 60 catches for 613 yards and four touchdowns in 14 games. It’s a nice compliment to Smith, who is an improving blocker and an elite athlete, who runs well after the catch.
“I didn’t think this would happen where we both ended up in the same place. We hadn’t even talked about that. I don’t think anybody even thought about that,” Henry said, adding later, “It’s going to be awesome. I feel like we complement each other well. I feel like we’ll compete. I got to meet him last week, so I continue to build that relationship and excited to see it show off on the field.”
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