The New England Patriots‘ 2021 offseason will go down in history for the franchise because of the records they set in free agency.
While that spending spree was largely a success — though they handed out some bad contracts, too — it served as further proof that Bill Belichick and the front office needed more than one offseason to turn this roster into a contender.
That’s what makes these next few months so important for the Patriots. Coming off a 10-7 season and getting steamrolled by Buffalo in the first round of the playoffs, this roster needs major upgrades.
Unfortunately, the Patriots don’t have the necessary bandwidth to make said upgrades. They have just $7.32 million in cap space, so they could look to cut and trade players to free up some extra wiggle room.
Since we’ve already highlighted some cut candidates, let’s speculate on some players who could find themselves on the trading block this offseason.
Trading these players will create at least 1M in cap space. pic.twitter.com/YjbpDLRsZs
— Miguel Benzan Patriots Cap Space is 12,198,438 (@patscap) February 4, 2022
3 players the Patriots can trade to save cap space
3. Henry Anderson
The Patriots surprised a lot of fans when they signed Henry Anderson two-year, $7 million contract last offseason.
Widely expected to be a rotational piece at the defensive end position, Anderson’s season lasted just four games, as he suffered a torn pectoral in the Week 4 loss to the Buccaneers. In those four contests, Anderson played a grand total of 25 snaps, including two games in which he played fewer than five snaps.
His career pass-rushing snaps are virtually non-existent, but that’s not his area of expertise. At 6-foot-6 and 300 pounds, Anderson is a savant setting the edge against the run. Across 16 games (eight starts) with the Jets in 2020, he posted the third-highest run-stuff rate among players who logged at least 500 defensive snaps.
The last time we checked, there are myriad teams around the NFL who struggle with stopping the run, so he would seemingly have a market.
It’s time for the Patriots to stop signing players who do specific things well and look more into investing in all-around players. Shop Anderson to a team that could better accentuate his skillset and recoup $1.851 million in cap space.
2. N’Keal Harry
This one doesn’t need much of an explanation.
Trading Harry would save just over $1 million in cap space, but it’d be better than letting him leave for free as a free agent, right? At this point, the 2019 first-rounder wouldn’t go for anything more than a late-round draft pick.
As long as Belichick swallows his pride and admits Harry was a colossal swing and miss, he should absolutely float him in trade talks.
At 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds with plenty of raw talent, we believe Harry, who just turned 24, can turn his career around. It’s just not going to happen with the Patriots. He proved this past season that he’s a force blocking for the running game, so that could make him a more appealing trade chip.
Harry needing a change of scenery is two years old at this point. His dominant training camp leading up to 2021 indicated he could carve out a role on the offense, and, in turn, boost his trade value, but it was just the same old story.
This relationship should’ve ended yesterday.
1. Isaiah Wynn
The Patriots cutting Isaiah Wynn is out of the question given that exercise would force them to swallow $10.413 million in dead money. If they were to trade him, however, they’d save close to $9.6 million in cap space.
Teams are always willing to trade (and overpay) for starting-caliber left tackles. Just in the last few years, we’ve seen the Chiefs acquire Orlando Brown, the 49ers nab Trent Williams, and the Texans land Laremy Tunsil. While Wynn isn’t quite on their level, he could net the Patriots a decent return.
Yes, the injury concerns are still there, but Wynn is fresh off playing 16 games this past season. That was easily a career-high and, despite the occasional blown assignment, he graded out well according to Pro Football Focus.
The Georgia product received a 74.9 player grade and allowed six sacks, five hits and 28 pressures across 915 snaps.
Might as well trade him when his value is at its highest, right? The Patriots don’t hand second contracts out to every player, and there’s plenty of prospects they could draft and develop as his replacement.
New England Patriots 2022 free agent tracker: Who’s staying and who’s going?
The New England Patriots expect to have a big turnover this offseason due to free agency. Let's keep an up to date tracker to see what changes are coming.