With more than $ 60 million in salary cap space, the New England Patriots need not necessarily follow the value route while looking for their next quarterback.
But with the needs of the entire squad – particularly the wide receiver, tight end, defensive tackle and linebacker – finding a cheaper quarterback would allow New England to increase its squad.
Let’s take a look at some of the Patriots’ most notable quarterback options to see how much capitalization space New England would have left after an acquisition.
Miguel Benzan, also known as @patscap on Twitter, currently projects the Patriots will have $ 62,492,990 in cap space in the off-season. All upper limit approaches are based on the top 51 rule (only the 51 most expensive players count against the limit until the beginning of the 2021 season).
Dak Prescott, free agent
Maximum limit of 2021 reached if franchised and negotiated: $ 37.7 million
Potential contract: four years, $ 147.3 million
Potential limit for 2021 under new contract: $ 28 million
Cowboys will only let Prescott go if they franchise and exchange him. Dallas already franchised Prescott in the last off-season, and the collective bargaining agreement states that if a player is franchised for the second consecutive year, his salary will increase by 20%. Prescott, therefore, would come to New England with a salary of $ 37.7 million and a cap reached. Spotrac.com projects that Prescott will sign a $ 147.3 million four-year contract as a free agent. Assuming that Prescott’s ceiling would increase over the duration of the contract, he could be in the books for around $ 28 million in 2021.
That would still give the Patriots about $ 35.3 million to spend in this off-season. They probably would not be able to spend on more than one player, however.
Remaining limit space: $ 25.6- $ 35.3 million
Jimmy Garoppolo, 49ers
Remaining contract: two years, $ 51.1 million
Limit reached in 2021: $ 25M
Limit reached in 2021 after restructuring: $ 13.2 million
This assumes that the 49ers find a better or cheaper quarterback option and trade Garoppolo with the Patriots. San Francisco may also be forced to cut Garoppolo, but it would probably make sense for New England to strike a deal to ensure they stay with his guy.
Garoppolo reached a limit of $ 25 million in 2021, but could be reduced by $ 11.8 million with a restructuring. Adjusting Garoppolo’s contract would generate money for the future, but would leave the Patriots with more than $ 50 million to spend in this off-season.
Remaining limit space: $ 38.3- $ 50.1 million
Marcus Mariota, Raiders
Remaining contract: one year, $ 11.35 million
Maximum 2021 limit: $ 11.35 million
Potential contract if released: two years, $ 23 million
Potential limit for 2021: $ 9 million
Mariota currently has a limit of $ 11.35 million reached, but that would rise to more than $ 20 million if he gets all of his incentives right. Raiders will likely need to release Mariota instead of trading it, as $ 11.35 million is affordable, while $ 20 million is not for a QB of its caliber.
If Mariota was worth $ 11.35 million in his current contract, it seems reasonable that a team could hire him for $ 11.5 million a year as a free agent. This is still relatively affordable for a novice quarterback.
Remaining limit space: $ 52- $ 54.4 million
Deshaun Watson, Texans
Remaining contract: five years, $ 146.54 million
Maximum limit for 2021: $ 10.54 million
Watson is incredibly affordable in 2021, with a cap reached just over $ 10.5 million. That’s because Watson is still technically in his rookie contract for the 2021 season. His limit reached the range of $ 30 and $ 40 million in 2022 and beyond. The Patriots could negotiate for Watson and then build their team with players in one year of testing to go all-in for the 2021 season. They would be mortgaging the future to do so, however, since a negotiation could cost four choices in the first round.
Remaining limit space: $ 52.7 million
Cam Newton, free agent
Potential contract: one year, $ 5.5 million
Potential limit for 2021: $ 5.5 million
The Patriots are unlikely to convince Newton to sign another contract close to the veteran minimum as they did in 2020, but $ 5.5 million (a Spotrac projection) is still affordable for a full-time quarterback, and New England would have plenty of room left over. to fill the list.
Remaining limit space: $ 57.8 million
Jacoby Brissett, free agent
Potential contract: two years, $ 12 million
Potential limit for 2021: $ 4.5
Brissett’s potential contract is based on deals recently signed by Case Keenum (three years, $ 18 million) and Tyrod Taylor (two years, $ 11 million).
Remaining limit space: $ 58.8 million
Rookie QB
Potential contract: four years, $ 20.9 million
Potential limit for 2021: US $ 3.8 million
This is the cost estimate if the Patriots traded up to 5th place in the NFL’s 2021 Draft to acquire a player like Mac Jones from Alabama or Trey Lance from the state of North Dakota. The current crop of Patriots draft choices will count only about $ 2 million against the limit. Trading for a quarterback would increase that by about $ 1.5 million.
Remaining limit space: $ 59.5 million
Gardner Minshew, Jaguars
Remaining contract: two years, $ 1,815M
2021 maximum limit: $ 850,000
Based on the 51 major rule, a player’s $ 780,000 limit hit would be replaced by Minshew’s $ 850,000 limit hit. This means that Minshew would only subtract $ 70,000 from his remaining limit space. If you are already subtracting the Patriot rookie class, then Minshew would essentially have no effect. He will count only $ 56,000 more against the limit than the choice of the third round that New England may have to negotiate for him.
Remaining limit space: $ 62.4 million
The Patriots currently have the third largest capitalization space in the NFL, according to OverTheCap.com. Even if they took the most expensive route and switched to Prescott without signing it for an extension contract, they would be left with $ 25.6 million in capitalization space, which would still be eighth among NFL teams.
Purchasing a cheaper option like Minshew or a newbie definitely has its benefits. The Patriots could spend on two or three great free agents and otherwise fill their squad with useful veteran players.
Watson would be the best option in a vacuum for the 2021 season if coach Bill Belichick doesn’t want to look beyond this year. Garoppolo and Mariota are the safest moves to acquire a decent QB veteran who will not break the bank or command an initial capital surplus.
Miniature photo via Kirby Lee / USA TODAY Sports Images