The New England Patriots may have a huge move up their sleeves

After signing both DeVante Parker and Ja'Whaun Bentley to contract extensions, the New England Patriots created additional cap space. Do they have a huge move up their sleeves? Over the last two days, the Patriots agreed to two contract extensions with two of their own.

The DeVante Parker extension can be worth up to $33 million, but it is heavily loaded with bonuses, so he likely won't see close to that amount. On Thursday, they also signed Ja'Whaun Bentley to a contract extension that can be worth $18.75 million.

Bentley has really come on strong the last two years and is a key player for the Patriots' defense, so this extension feels much more deserved that what Parker got. It's not that Parker is a bad player, but I have a hard time wrapping my head around the contract he got.

However, with both of these extensions, they did free up some cap space for 2023. Extending players usually reduces their cap hit for the coming season and can open up a good bit of cap space. Teams do this all the time. The other very popular way to clear up cap space is to restructure contracts as well.

Anyway, the Pats have been active the last two days, so there could be solid reason to believe that they may have a big move up their sleeves, right? Am I silly for thinking that the Patriots are preparing to make a large offer to DeAndre Hopkins?

Rumors are that he is mulling the choice between the Patriots and the Tennessee Titans. There haven't been a ton of teams, as far as we know, who have shown much interest in Hopkins. Hopkins' best fit for the sake of his own production and team fit would be with the Patriots.

They simply do not have a true WR1 on the team, and Hopkins can fill that void for them. Even though he is 31 years old, he's still averaged 67.8 yards per game over the last two seasons, which translates to 1,153 yards over a 17-game season. He's still a very productive wide receiver.

His catch rate over the last two seasons is also a few percentage points higher than his career mark. Don't let his age fool you. The Pats could also make an offer for Dalvin Cook, as they may have a need for another running back. Maybe the Patriots are planning to make strong offers for both Cook AND Hopkins?

That would be quite something. I do not think this team is done making moves just yet.