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Nearly four years after putting the literal kibosh on bringing Kenny Britt to New England, owner Robert Kraft has allowed the acquisition to happen.

“We won’t be signing him,” Kraft said in early 2014, via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com. “That won’t happen.”

And now they have. As Reiss notes, Britt’s extended history of off-field incidents contributed to the decision to shy away from him. The team also had a heightened sensitivity to antisocial behavior at the time, since the Aaron Hernandez fiasco was still fairly fresh in everyone’s mind.

Now, with Britt not only playing well (at times) but also staying out of trouble, it’s easier to justify adding a player who could improve the depth chart at the position.

It nevertheless remains difficult for skill-position players to get quickly up to speed with a new team, new coaching staff, new playbook, new everything. But Britt will have the balance of the regular season to get himself up to speed, with the likely goal being of finding a way for him to make a contribution at some point in the postseason.

And with a two-year deal in place, the bigger play for the Patriots could be finding a way to get the most out of him in 2018.