AFC Notes: Jakobi Meyers, Jerry Montgomery, Vinnie Sunseri, Dolphins, Patriots

Dolphins

• Marcel Louis-Jacques of ESPN writes the Dolphins must make additions to their receivers group with Braxton Berrios and River Cracraft impending free agents while Erik Ezukanma is the only other receiver on the roster. 
• Given Miami won’t have to spend heavily for a wide receiver with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, Louis-Jacques considers Patriots WR Kendrick Bourne and Bengals WR Tyler Boyd as two potential free agents who fit the mold.
• Although Louis-Jacques doesn’t expect the Dolphins to take a receiver in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, he names Georgia’s Ladd McConkey, North Carolina’s Devontez Walker, and Washington’s Ja’Lynn Polk as potential Day 2 options.

Patriots

• Matt Zenitz reports that the University of Washington is hiring Patriots assistant Vinnie Sunseri as their DB coach.
• Per Mike Reiss, the Patriots interviewed former Packers DL coach Jerry Montgomery for a position on their defensive staff. Rob Demovksy reports that Montgomery was then hired by the team.

Patriots

Raiders WR Jakobi Meyers revealed that the offer he received from the Patriots during free agency was just $1 million short of what he was being offered by Las Vegas. At the end of the day, Meyers chose to sign with the Raiders and realized that it was a business decision by New England.

“They just wouldn’t budge. At the end of the day, (Bill Belichick) didn’t want to move,” Meyers said, via MassLive.com. “And I respected it. Like it is his job to do what’s best for his team or what he thinks is best for the team. It just didn’t align on what I felt like I was worth.”

“They wouldn’t move,” Meyers added on the Patriots offer. “I wouldn’t have minded staying. It would’ve been a different conversation. I probably would’ve thought about it a little differently. I did enjoy Boston… It was definitely a sting when I left, but I understand the business side.”

Meyers then commented on the team replacing him with WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, who never seemed to get going for New England, coming over from Kansas City with his knee injury.

“Juju, at the end of the day, he’s a man and I respect him. It had nothing to do with him,” Meyers said. “I think he’s a good player. I just think football caught up with him. I don’t know what his situation is, but it’s tough.”

“It was a different experience. Who I was at that point in my career, I probably didn’t get as much respect as I would out here (in Las Vegas),” Meyers concluded when asked about going from Boston to Las Vegas. “I do (enjoy it more). I’m not going to lie. It’s different… There I had to prove who I was every day, every single day I had to be better. Here, I want to be better every single day, it’s different. Not to call people out or throw people under the bus, but I was more of a focus here than I was there. Where there, I was doing more of what I had to do to survive and feed my family.”