The Patriots aren't afraid to take a risk when it comes to winning, and they reportedly took one on Thursday by claiming former Cardinals wide receiver Michael Floyd off waivers.
Floyd, who was arrested on a DUI charge in Arizona and subsequently released by the Cards, was claimed by New England on Thursday, according to Field Yates of ESPN.
New England is as far back as you can get in terms of waiver order, sitting at 11-2, which means at least 30 other teams declined to claim the wide receiver. It shouldn't be surprising to see people pass on him.
Floyd has talent, a first-round pick out of Notre Dame who was expected to have a strong season after posting big numbers down the stretch in 2015. Instead, he has been a massive disappointment and now looks like a massive bust.
But he could, in theory, be a massive help to the Patriots, who are really thin at receiver. They've lost Rob Gronkowski for the season and Danny Amendola is injured.
Malcolm Mitchell is coming along nicely as a rookie and Julian Edelman has been a target hog the past few weeks. Chris Hogan has been a pleasant surprise as a deep threat.
But there's also a chance Floyd doesn't do much for New England. He has some experience in the Pats' offense to a small degree, having spent two years playing for Charlie Weis at Notre Dame -- Weis was an offensive coordinator with the Pats and Josh McDaniels was a quarterbacks coach underneath him. So there's a little familiarity there.
At the very least, it's a coach with lots of job security willing to roll the dice on a talented player who could produce despite having off-field issues. If it works out, then it's a bonus for New England. And if Floyd isn't able to produce or get up to speed on the offense, then they can just throw him back onto the waiver pile.
