:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63761759/usa_today_11491994.0.jpg)
UPDATE 2:00 p.m. Arrowhead Time: Watson will reportedly sign with Patriots.
Former #Patriots TE Benjamin Watson is planning to sign back with New England again. There are a few issues to work through, but those won’t hold up the deal. The former first round pick will be back home again.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 9, 2019
Patriots intend to sign former Saints’ tight end Ben Watson to a one-year, $3 million deal, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 9, 2019
Tight end Benjamin Watson is once again reportedly considering the Kansas City Chiefs, except this time it’s after calling off his retirement. The report came through from ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Former Saints’ TE Benjamin Watson, who had intended to retire, is in New England today visiting with the Patriots, per source. Watson also is considering the Chiefs, Bills and 49ers. His retirement didn’t last long.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 9, 2019
The move to acquire the 38-year-old Watson would be unique for general manager Brett Veach, who has tended to avoid bringing in free agents much older than 25. The difference here is that the Chiefs should be taking calls on all tight ends, considering their No. 2 behind Travis Kelce—Demetrius Harris—left for the Cleveland Browns in free agency and Veach did not address the position with a move in the draft.
I asked Chiefs head coach Andy Reid about the tight end room on Saturday, remembering his affinity for two and three-TE sets.
“I’m not worried about that room,” he said. “I’m curious to see some of the young [players]— the (Deon) Yelders and those guys. (Blake) Bells, I want to see them play. We got some good, young guys in there—I just don’t have enough information on them when things are going, like a training camp practice. And these practices will be good for them.”
The Chiefs have several young candidates for the position—Yelder, Bell, David Wells and John Lovett, the Princeton quarterback who the Chiefs are transitioning to the tight end position. I called Lovett a “dark horse” to win the job in my Reid roundup on Monday, though the Chiefs signing Watson would undoubtedly hurt his chances.
Working with Drew Brees last season, Watson had 35 catches for 400 yards and four touchdowns, including Brees’ 500th. He’s amassed 5,885 yards over his 14 years in the league that began with six in New England. The Patriots originally drafted Watson with the 32nd overall pick in the first round of the 2004 draft. The Chiefs selected Junior Siavii with their top pick four selections later.