Whether it was due to injury or unreliability, personnel stability was one of the biggest issues for the New England Patriots’ cornerback group in 2023. While this impacted its effectiveness over the course of the season, it also opened the door for some previously unheralded players to see an uptick in playing time.

One of those players was Shaun Wade, who ended up having a career year — at least in terms of opportunities and statistical output.

Hard facts

Name: Shaun Wade

Position: Cornerback

Opening day age: 25 (9/15/1998)

Size: 6’1”, 195 lbs

Jersey number: 26

Contract status: Under contract through 2024 (2025 UFA)

Experience

Wade spent his entire four-year college career at Ohio State. The former five-star prospect and the No. 2 cornerback in the 2017 recruiting class became a valuable member of the Buckeyes’ secondary over the years: bBetween 2018 and 2020, he appeared in a combined 35 games with 18 starts and registered six interceptions — including one returned for a touchdown —, three forced fumbles and was named Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year.

His time in the NFL, meanwhile, has been less successful. A fifth-round draft pick by the Baltimore Ravens in 2021, he was traded to the Patriots ahead of the 2021 regular season. Since then, he has only seen irregular opportunities and appeared in just 20 total games over his first three seasons in New England — a majority of which coming in 2023.

2023 review

Stats: 14 games (6 starts) | 348 defensive snaps (30.6%), 26 special teams snaps (5.7%) | 23 tackles, 3 missed tackles (11.5%) | 34 targets, 23 catches surrendered (67.6%), 290 yards, 1 TD

Season recap: Wade’s first two seasons with the Patriots were rather quiet, despite some occasional flashes during practice. At least early on, 2023 appeared to be more of the same: the third-year man had some encouraging moments in training camp and preseason — allowing him to earn a roster spot — before starting the year near the bottom of the roster.

With the Patriots’ cornerback depth chart starting to deteriorate, however, Wade saw his opportunities skyrocket when compared to 2021 and 2022. In total, he ended the season with 14 in-game appearances and six starts, and was on the field for 348 of New England’s 1,138 defensive snaps (30.6%). He also put up career numbers from a statistical perspective, even though the bar to clear was not particularly high in the first place.

Of course, contextualization is important when it comes to Wade’s 2023 campaign. His playing time, for example, fluctuated greatly for much of the year: he did not see the field on defense in six of 17 games, was a game-day inactive three times (including once due to illness), and crossed the 50 percent barrier for snaps in just five contests.

Wade’s biggest strength in 2023 might have been his relative ability to keep himself available. With the likes of Christian Gonzalez, Jonathan Jones, Jack Jones, and J.C. Jackson all struggling in that area for one reason or another, Wade proved himself a steady presence.

The results themselves may not have always looked the part, but all in all the 2023 season was still a step in the right direction for Wade.

2024 preview

What will be his role? In theory, Wade could be a factor both on the perimeter and in the slot; the Patriots have used him that way in practice before. However, given his in-game usage the last few years he projects primarily as a depth outside cornerback: he will compete for a backup spot behind projected starters Christian Gonzalez and Jonathan Jones this summer.

What is his growth potential? Wade had some encouraging moments in training camp each of the last two years, but has yet to carry that same momentum into the actual season. As a result, there are questions about whether or not his ceiling can be anything more than replacement level. He did show enough promise to stick around so far, but his potential might not be what his former status as a five-star project would make you believe.

Does he have positional versatility? Despite being used both split out wide and in the slot during his time at Ohio State, the Patriots have predominately used Wade as an outside cornerback since he joined them in 2021. They did experiment with him on the inside quite a bit in practice, but the results look differently when looking at the regular season: 319 of his 377 total defensive snaps (84.6%) so far have come on the perimeter. In addition, Wade also has limited special teams experience to offer outside of his role on the punt return team.

What is his salary cap situation? Entering the final year of his rookie contract, Wade will be playing on a salary of $1.055 million. With no signing bonus or other costs embedded into his deal, that number also is precisely his cap hit for the 2024 season. It is high enough to qualify him for Top-51 status at the moment, meaning he currently counts against New England’s books.

How safe is his roster spot? Despite coming off his best season to date, Wade’s outlook for 2023 is rather unclear. Not only will the Patriots get players such as Christian Gonzalez and Jonathan Jones back from injury, the likes of Alex Austin, Marco Wilson and Marcellas Dial all are in the mix this summer as well. Wade needs to be his best version yet in order to keep the spot on the roster he held the last three years.

One-sentence projection: Wade will not be able to make it through roster cutdowns this time around, but he will sneak onto the practice squad.

What do you think about Shaun Wade heading into the 2024 season? Please head down to the comment section to discuss.