The New England Patriots are running low on receivers.

Entering Monday, expected contributors Julian Edelman, Brandon LaFell and Brandon Gibson have all been dealing with injuries throughout training camp, the preseason, or both. Even the receiving depth has been hobbled, with Aaron Dobson and Brian Tyms dealing with leg injuries. By the end of Monday, Gibson had been placed on injured reserve and Tyms was waived.

All of this led to reports over the weekend of New England bringing in Reggie Wayne for a visit and a physical. Wayne was scheduled to take his physical on Sunday, and just signed a one-year deal with the club on Monday afternoon.

A call to Wayne might have seemed like a bit of a surprise when paired with New England, but it shouldn’t be one for a team suddenly thinning at wide receiver. Any time a team is looking for a receiver, Wayne’s name is one of the first to pop up in the media.

After Kelvin Benjamin was lost for the season in training camp, one would have assumed Wayne would be a Panther by nightfall with how much his name was thrown around as a possible target. After Jordy Nelson was possibly lost for the season on Sunday, Wayne's name again popped up as a person of interest.

Since July, Wayne’s name has been linked to the Patriots, Panthers, Bengals, Ravens, Texans and Packers. Some of that has been media speculation, and some may have been genuine interest, but the New England physical is the first real news we’ve had on the Reggie Wayne front all offseason, and it turned out to be all we needed.

Wayne has long been one of the better receivers in the league, but he will be turning 37 years old this season. For a sport that considers players over the age of 30 to be old, Wayne won’t be expected to be play like his prime or close to it.

But at that age it’s natural to wonder what he might have left in the tank.

The Age Curve

It probably won’t be shocking that the number of receivers who even played a bit role at age 37 is not very long. Since 1920 there have been 25 receivers, including Wayne, to catch 25 passes at the age of 36, and only seven of them caught at least 25 receptions the following year. That list contains some of the best wide receivers in league history, and Ricky Proehl. Among the other receivers on that list are Charlie Joiner, Drew Hill, Art Monk, Irving Fryar, Jerry Rice, Tim Brown and Terrell Owens. Of those eight receivers, only three (Monk, Fryar and Owens) had more receiving yards at age 37 than at 36.

Only two of those receivers were around recently enough to have both seasons be in the  Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman on the Patriots -- but it probably wouldn't be much different from the role he'd play should Indianapolis have re-signed him. After all, 37-year-old wide receivers aren't typically the focal point of an offense, but those talented enough to get to this point have returned at least some value on the field.

Reggie Wayne appears to be okay with that, and so are the Patriots.