Fantastic news: The Patriots are being held back by…

admin | February 25, 2024 | Uncategorized | No Comments

4 contracts holding the Patriots back right now

Anyone who watched a Patriots game last season would not be surprised to learn that JuJu Smith-Schuster’s contract will be a complete disaster for this team the following season. Even though his salary isn’t outrageous in comparison to other receivers, a cap hit of more than $10 million is still a lot of money for a player who hardly played last season.

From the beginning, he was a contentious signing because it appeared that Bill Belichick signed Smith-Schuster—who was coming off an injury—instead of paying Jakobi Meyers, who was offered a roughly equal salary. After joining the Raiders, Meyers enjoyed his finest season to date in 2023, while Smith-Schuster had his worst season to date outside of 2021 when his year

There wasn’t much fanfare around Davon Godchaux’s signing during the 2021 free-agency spending splurge. After playing for the Dolphins for his first four years of his career, he was placed on injured reserve for all but five games of the 2020 campaign.

It made sense for the Patriots to sign Godchaux because they needed defensive line support, yet in the past three seasons, his contributions have gone unnoticed. Over the years, he has been a great assistance with run blocking, which had been a flaw in New England. However, given that he is owed more than $11 million this season, his lack of pass rush reduces his worth.

Eliminating the nose tackle would simply require the group to accept

Now that the New England Patriots are in their fourth season in the league, they have to consider the possibility of losing a few quality players to free agency. Guard Mike Onwenu, safety Kyle Dugger, and edge Josh Uche are the current versions.

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The rule of thumb under former general manager Bill Belichick was to basically ignore signing players early in their four-year contract (first-round picks excluded, of course) and let events unfold naturally. This encompasses individuals who had demonstrated themselves to be reliable, if not superior, NFL players during their initial years in the league.

The benefit is that you won’t be stuck with his new contract’s guaranteed component if the player becomes complacent. True statement. The drawback, though, is that

This criticism barely applies to every player with a four-year contract. However, early in their time with the team, either the team believes they’ll be there for a long time. If not, that’s an additional issue that shouldn’t be addressed here.

A lower-round pick or even an undrafted free agent (UDFA) may show early on that they have “it” and have the potential to develop into a reliable NFL player. Cornerback Malcolm Butler, cornerback Jonathan Jones, and center David Andrews are a few of those UDFAs.

There are both higher and lower draft selections; examples of higher selections are Christian Barmore, the previously mentioned Dugger, and Uche. Furthermore, Brenden Schooler, the star player on special teams, Onwenu, a sixth-round selection, and a