Demaryius Thomas was only with the New England Patriots for around five months, and the veteran wide receiver does not feel like he took anything away from his brief tenure with the team. In fact, Thomas considers it a “waste of time.”
Thomas was initially signed by the Patriots back in April, and he was briefly released at the beginning of September before they brought him back. He told Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News this week that he chose not to pursue other opportunities after being cut, as the Patriots assured him his regular season spot was not in doubt. He then re-signed with the team after they placed rookie receiver N’Keal Harry on injured reserve, but Thomas was traded to the New York Jets less than a week later when Antonio Brown became available.
“It was insulting, for sure,” Thomas said. “Once I got cut (on Aug. 31), I could have just come here (to the Jets) and not stayed there and re-sign. When they re-signed me, I was thinking that I was good. Two weeks later, I was gone. So, it’s like, ‘Why did I waste my time?’ Because at the end of the day, it was kind of a waste of time for me.”
Thomas’ main issue seems to be with Bill Belichick not keeping his word, as he says he enjoyed the time he spent with Tom Brady and Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. He said he was given assurances that he would have a spot on the 53-man roster on multiple occasions, but he could have “easily” just signed with the Jets had he known he’d be given the boot in favor of Brown.
“Coach (Belichick) came up to me and was like, ‘Uh, we got too many guys. We can’t get the ball around enough and we’re going to trade you to the Jets,'” Thomas recalled.
The Patriots obviously did not think very highly of Thomas, as trading him to the Jets helped Belichick accomplish a rare feat. You can understand why he would be upset with the way things unfolded, but there are always going to be circumstances you can’t account for. New England obviously felt Brown was more worthy of a roster spot at the time, so Thomas can at least take some pleasure in how that situation worked out.
