The Patriots are one of the fortunate teams heading into this offseason with a lot of cap space to spend on free agents to improve their team before the upcoming draft. That means they won't be forced to keep players who don't make their team much better, especially if they cost a pretty penny.
That has been the case in recent years, mainly due to Bill Belichick's reluctance to spend money more wisely on players who can uplift any of the three units. But with good positioning in the upcoming draft and one of the highest cap spaces in the league, Jerod Mayo can kick off the new league year by making a big splash by signing some top players.
The new head coach could also create even more space by cutting players who will have the biggest hit on the 2024 budget. At least four will likely be considered as cut candidates this offseason for one reason or another, but their paycheck will undoubtedly be the focus.
J.C. Jackson - cornerback
2024 Cap hit: $14,375,000
Potential out in 2024: $0 in dead cap
When the Patriots traded for J.C. Jackson early last season, it was a universally exciting move for most fans since they never wanted to see the cornerback leave in free agency to begin with. Bill Belichick made the move after Marcus Jones suffered a season-ending injury, and the cornerback room needed some help.
So why not call your former star secondary player who just happened to be available?
Everything seemed dandy until Jackson wasn't performing as we remembered during his first stint with New England. Things were a bit chaotic the rest of the season, and although he could become that guy again, his contract may be too high to risk it.
Last season, the Chargers footed most of his contract, but now that the entirety of his $14.3 million salary is on New England's shoulders, it may be time to release or trade Jackson to save some cap space.
Fortunately, when the Chargers agreed to a contract with him in 2022, they ensured they had an out after two seasons. Now that we're in the 2024 offseason, the Patriots can release Jackson without taking on any dead cap this year or through the remaining years of his contract.
It seems like a no-brainer unless they believe he can be an asset in the secondary, which is possible with Alex Austin, Myles Bryant, and Jalen Mills heading to free agency.
JuJu Smith-Schuster - wide receiver
2024 Cap hit: $10,280,386
Unsurprisingly to anyone who watched a Patriots game last season, JuJu Smith-Schuster's contract is an absolute disaster for this team next season. Although he's not being paid an egregious amount of money compared to other receivers, a cap hit of over $10 million is a lot for a guy who barely made his presence known on the field last year.
He was a problematic signing from the start, as Bill Belichick seemingly chose not to pay Jakobi Meyers a nearly identical contract in favor of signing Smith-Schuster, who was coming off an injury at the time. Meyers signed with the Raiders and went on to have the best season of his career in 2023, while Smith-Schuster had the worst outside of 2021 when his year ended prematurely due to injury.
Fortunately, Jerod Mayo is not in a position that forces him to keep the receiver on the roster for the upcoming season. Trading him would be the best route, taking on just $5.2 million in dead cap for the season and saving over $5 million before June 1.
If he chose to wait until after that date to trade Smith-Schuster, they would add over $2.6 million in dead cap in 2024 and 2025, receiving $7,647,053 in savings.
Releasing him would be an entirely different story, and if done after June 1, would only add $647k+ to this year's cap space, essentially not being entirely worth it.
Davon Godchaux - defensive tackle
2024 Cap hit: $11,650,000
When Davon Godchaux was signed during the 2021 free-agency spending spree, there wasn't a lot of excitement about his addition. He had spent the first four years of his career with the Dolphins but missed all but five games of the 2020 season on injured reserve.
The Patriots needed help on the defensive line, so the signing made sense, and over the last three seasons, Godchaux has gone under the radar regarding his contributions. He has been a solid help with run blocking over the years, which had been a weakness in New England. But his lack of pass rush hurts his value, especially when he's due over $11 million for the season.
Cutting the nose tackle would only force the team to take on $3.5 million in dead cap this year while adding $8.15 million in savings. Because there are so many roster holes needing to be addressed, making every dollar count, releasing a guy who has become helpful in just one area wouldn't be a bad idea.
DeVante Parker - wide receiver
2024 Cap hit: $6,566,668
Like JuJu Smith-Schuster, Bill Belichick trading for DeVante Parker was not an exciting decision for most. It was an attempt to help a weakened receiving corps, but not exactly the player that felt like the guy for the job.
Since he arrived in 2022, he has dealt with injuries that kept him sidelined in back-to-back seasons, missing eight total games. He was productive his first year, which was quite the feat considering the absolute chaos behind the scenes in Foxboro that year, but he hasn't been able to become much of an improvement over the other receivers on the team.
Despite it all, he signed a contract extension last summer to keep him with the Patriots through 2025, likely due to the lack of receivers signed to the team beyond this upcoming season. And unfortunately, although he should be a cut candidate, doing so won't yield much in return.
The ideal scenario would be to trade him after June 1, as the Patriots would only take on $1,566,666 in the dead cap over the next two seasons. They would also receive $4.6 million in savings for the 2024 season.
Releasing or trading him, especially before June, doesn't seem worth doing, and it would almost be better to let him finish his contract in New England instead.