“Brandon, we hardly knew ye.”

That will soon become the epitaph for the short, unhappy career of Brandon Lloyd in New England.

The Patriots wide receiver is widely assumed to be on his way out of town because the Patriots are unlikely to pick up a $3 million option bonus it appears must be exercised by March 31. As of yesterday, agent Tom Condon hasn’t had any communication with the Patriots about Lloyd. And more damning is that, according to associates of Lloyd, he has had no communication with the man who strongly advocated bringing him to New England, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.

Silence may be golden in some circumstances, but not when a team is deciding whether or not to hand you some gold as a retainer fee.

What is most damning though is that the cost to retain Lloyd, at a time when every veteran Pats receiver besides Matthew Slater is slated to become a free agent, is minimal. It would cost the Pats only $2 million in real money this year to exercise his option (plus the $1.9 million salary he’s set to be paid), because the final million is deferred until March 31, 2014, and only $1.5 million in cap dollars (plus that salary) because its cost would be spread over the final two years of the three-year, $12 million contract he signed last March.

That signing was highly recommended by McDaniels, who coaxed and coached the best year of his career out of Lloyd in 2010, when he had 77 receptions for 1,448 yards and 11 touchdowns in Denver. But as some predicted, that was the outlier year. Last season, Lloyd caught 74 passes for 911 yards and four scores, decent numbers but nothing special, and not the kind of downfield presence McDaniels promised.

Lloyd’s numbers were similar to what he’d done throughout most of his 10-year career. They were adequate but easily replaceable and, frankly, too costly for a guy who seemed unable to get on the same page with Tom Brady very often.

Lloyd was supposed to be a player who stretched the field outside the numbers, opening up space for Wes Welker and the Pats’ armada of tight ends. Instead, he most often seemed to be stretching to get out of bounds.

Lloyd did more diving than Greg Louganis, his preferred spot in the Patriots offense seeming to be out of harm’s way. Reflective of this, Lloyd finished 121st in the NFL in yards after the catch, with only 189 on 74 receptions, an average of 2.6 yards from the spot where he first caught the ball to his final resting place. If Calvin Johnson is known as “Megatron,” this guy would be called “Snail.”

Yet to be fair, Lloyd pretty much did what he’d done everywhere else he’d been, and he’s been a lot of places. That was true both on the field and off, but typical of what seems to go on in these parts when a team is preparing to let a player go, whispers now abound that he was difficult in the locker room and sometimes disinterested on the practice field. Why did they think he’d been on five teams in six years? Because he was easy to get along with?

To leak out stories now trashing Lloyd when preparing to dump him is classless and unnecessary. To suggest he was “weird” or rude or lazy says more about the organization’s vetting process before hiring him than it does about the player himself.

Even Condon conceded yesterday that “Brandon can be a little edgy,” but added he’s also a proven receiver with clear production. He said if the Patriots choose not to pick up his option, he’s confident they will find another team for someone who had nearly 1,000 receiving yards last year and has made 70 or more catches each of the past three seasons.

Condon is right, and the Patriots may be as well. Although with Wes Welker, Julian Edelman, Deion Branch, Donte Stallworth and Lloyd all free to walk, the receiving cupboard is a tad bare at the moment. The free agent receiver pool is a deep one, however, and the Patriots have the cash to dive in.

There are top-draw types like Dwayne Bowe (speaking of edgy), Mike Wallace and Greg Jennings, bottom feeders like Johnny Knox or Joshua Cribbs, solid with upside like Brian Hartline and gambles like Danny Amendola, who if nothing else could replace Edelman on the disabled list. So committing another $3 million in guaranteed bonus money and $1.9 million in salary to Lloyd as his 11th season approaches seems less likely than his making the free agency grand slam and heading off to a fourth team in four years.

But to whisper it’s because he was a little odd is to say you didn’t do your homework.