Baker becomes the fourth rookie from the Patriots’ 2024 draft class to sign his contract. The former UCF Knight has a chance to compete for playing time in a thin wide receiver room, but will likely be stuck behind Kendrick Bourne and fellow rookie Ja’Lynn Polk for snaps on the outside. Baker has good size and athleticism and averaged 21.9 YPR in his final college season, but he should be viewed as more of a developmental player in his rookie season, assuming he doesn’t get shoehorned into a role due to injuries.

After adding Ja’Lynn Polk with the 34th pick, the Patriots continue to rework their wideout room with the pick of Baker. The 6-foot-1, 202-pound wideout has the prototypical size for an outside receiver, and he lined up wide on 80.7 percent of his career snaps per PFF while going for a career-best 52-1139-7 in his senior season. A former four-star recruit who initially committed to Alabama, Baker joined UCF ahead of the 2022 season and made an immediate impact. The 56.4 percent contested catch rate he posted for his career ranks amongst the best of any receiver in this year’s class and in 2023 he caught the third-most deep targets (15) of any FBS receiver. There’s plenty of reason to believe Baker can compete for playing time in 2024.