The Patriots’ wide receiver group was iffy to start with and now their prized free agent signing has an ominous outlook.

Per a report from NFL insider Albert Breer on NBC Sports Boston, newly acquired free agent JuJu Smith-Schuster may end up as a severe liability.

“JuJu Smith-Schuster’s knee is a mess. That thing could explode at any point. And so you almost have to keep an extra receiver because of that,” Breer said.

Greg Bedard, also appearing on NBC Sports, was then asked how many starting quality receivers the Patriots roster.

“If JuJu is healthy, they have three: JuJu, DeVante Parker, and Kendrick Bourne. They really like Demario Douglas, they really like Kayshon Boutte. Tyquan Thornton, I don’t know if he’s going to have to go on IR or not, but I think they keep six as of right now,” Bedard said.

“You lose one of the top three and all of a sudden, two rookies and a second-round pick who hasn’t played or practiced at all is in there,” Bedard added.

Smith-Schuster, 26, signed a three-year, $25.5 million contract with the Patriots this offseason after spending five years with the Steelers and one year with the Chiefs.

The wide receiver’s best season came in 2018 when he hauled in 111 catches for 1,426 yards and seven touchdowns.

The Patriots decided to let Jakobi Meyers go to the Raiders on a three year $33 million deal during the offseason.

Smith-Schuster has battled knee injuries since 2019 and suffered a right shoulder injury in 2021 that put him on the shelf for 12 games.

He recorded the second-most receiving yards for the Chiefs last season with 933, trailing only Travis Kelce on the team.

With Mac Jones at the helm of the offense in his third season, the Patriots recently signed former Panthers quarterback Matt Corral via waivers to compete for the backup role.

Corral joins Malik Cunningham and Bailey Zappe, who were recently waived and then re-signed, as backups for Jones in the quarterback room.