At the start of the 2025 league year, the New England Patriots led the NFL in salary cap space by a wide margin. As of Aug. 1, the Patriots still top the list, with $59.9 million in space, per Over the Cap’s projections.
Head coach Mike Vrabel has left the door open for potential roster additions at various times this offseason, most recently speaking on recently-released defensive tackle Christian Wilkins.
Vrabel took a different approach on Friday, however, when asked about the Patriots having interest in disgruntled stars Terry McLaurin of the Commanders and Micah Parsons of the Cowboys.
"I’m not going to comment on players that are under contract on other teams. Let’s focus on the ones that are here that we’re working with. I mean, we see all these things happen in the National Football League, whether it’s the offseason, whether it’s before the season starts. So everybody’s working with different situations. So those respective players, those respective teams will focus on their situations, and we’ll focus on ours."
The Patriots would be a logical suitor for McLaurin, especially given the team’s recent engagement with teams on wide receivers like Brandon Aiyuk, Chris Godwin, and D.K. Metcalf. Parsons might be more of a longshot, but New England can’t be ruled out due to its salary cap situation and current need for star power on the roster.
New England’s near $60 million in salary cap space might not be what it seems
When pressed further on his team’s wealth of cap space, Vrabel hinted that the team factors future years into the equation. In other words, the numbers may say one thing on tracking sites such as Spotrac and Over the Cap, but the Patriots are viewing the numbers differently internally, as sums eligible to be carried over into 2026 have to be accounted for.
“I mean, if something were to present itself then we’d be able to, you know, do some things,” Vrabel acknowledged of the team's cap situation on Friday. “So right now we’re focused on the roster that we have. I think we’ve tried to be as close to the plan as we could going through free agency and how we wanted to allocate it over the next two years, counting this year and next year, when we look at the cap going out over two years.”
Mike Vrabel was more candid on ex-Raiders DT Christian Wilkins
Vrabel was a lot more excited about talking about Christian Wilkins last week, though it’s worth noting that Wilkins was no longer under contract with the Raiders at the time, and no potential tampering lines were being crossed.
On Wilkins, Vrabel told reporters on July 25: "I know Christian; I recruited him when he was up here in the area in Connecticut going to high school. So I'm sure we'll have a conversation about it."
Are similar contingency conversations happening behind the scenes on McLaurin and/or Parsons? Patriots fans would certainly hope so. For now, Vrabel isn’t going there, and if you read between the lines, New England might not be as primed for a splash move or signing as it might appear on paper.
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