What Patriots spending spree means for Deshaun Watson chances

The New England Patriots are clearly on a revenge tour this offseason after they finished with their worst season in two decades, as they doled out a total of $146 million on Monday alone between the signings of Matthew Judon, Jalen Mills, Jonnu Smith and Davon Godchaux.

That doesn’t even account for the Patriots’ other moves, as they’ve made statement additions to their quarterback room, wide receiving corps and front seven.

The complete breakdown of deals is mind-boggling, but the way the front office structured them has left New England will plenty of cap space for the second and third waves of free agency.

According to Jeff Howe of The Athletic, the Patriots still have between $35-40 million in cap room, meaning they could still swing for the fences and trade for Deshaun Watson if they wanted to.

If you recall, the follow-up reports following the Cam Newton signing suggested the Pats were still in the market for a quarterback.

After looking at his incentive-laden contract, it’s easy to see why so many reports were left thinking that was the case.

Even after their spending spree, the Patriots have the requisite cap space to absorb Deshaun Watson’s contract.

Perhaps the most important nugget here is that Watson will account for just a $10.54 million cap hit for next season before they balloon to $35 million, $37 million and $32 million over the next four campaigns when his extension kicks in.

The Patriots weren’t on Watson’s initial preferred list of destinations, but that was revealed well before the start of free agency — you know, when they had one of the most uninspiring rosters in the league. Now, however, New England is seemingly a superstar quarterback (and maybe a star WR, which they can still add) away from entering the championship conversation overnight.

Any bidding war for Watson would start at three-first-round picks, with potentially a pair of second-rounders added to sweeten the pot given that none of those firsts would be high selections. That’s a steep price to pay, but what’s a handful of draft picks really worth after the Patriots spent nearly $300 million (!) to revamp their roster over the first 72 hours of free agency?

Throw Belichick’s lackluster draft track record into account — why else do you think he’s been spending so much money? — and the Patriots wouldn’t miss those picks, especially with a top-five quarterback in Watson, who’s under contract for the next five seasons and is still a year or two away from hitting his prime, entering the fold.

Now, is it possible the Patriots decide to draft a young QB next month to be able to pay for all these contracts down the road? Perhaps, but those deals shouldn’t be too much of a concern with the league’s new lucrative television deals coming into play in two years.

The cap is going to skyrocket once those contracts are signed and sealed, and New England has simply been too aggressive over the last few weeks to not make one final push for Watson. Who knows? Maybe this was their master plan all along.

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