The most overrated player on each AFC East rival’s roster

AFC East most overrated: New England Patriots – Jonnu Smith & Hunter Henry

The New England Patriots have a rich history of tight ends that have played for the organization, from Ben Coats to Ben Watson to Rob Gronkowski. They have looked to continue their solid play at the position by investing some serious cap space on free-agent tight ends over the last couple of seasons.

There is no team in the NFL that has a higher payroll for their tight ends. The division rival Miami Dolphins spend the second most and are still a whopping $12 million behind New England in money owed to the position in 2022. 15 percent of the Patriots’ entire payroll is dedicated to tight ends.

The two players that are highly paid, and average-at-very-best in their production, are Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith. Their high price tags, high expectations, and low results make them the most overrated (and overvalued) members of the New England Patriots.

While Henry’s 9 touchdowns pop out on the stat sheet, four of them came in two games. And two of those came in garbage time. His 603 receiving yards were the 13th most of any tight end, surprisingly low for being a Pro Bowl quarterback’s second-favorite target and 5th highest-paid at his position.

Speaking of 5th highest paid, Smith earned the same $12.5 million as Henry did last season, and was an even worse investment. Smith finished with fewer than 300 receiving yards and caught a single touchdown, catching just 62 percent of the balls thrown his way. On the NFL value rankings at Spotrac.com (which are based on on-field production vs. average salary), Smith is the 43rd-ranked tight end. There are 43 eligible tight ends.