Things may not be perfect, but the New England Patriots are in a much better place financially than they were in the 2022 season.
Last year, wide receiver Nelson Agholor’s contract came with the second-highest cap hit, while tight end Jonnu Smith’s deal was the fifth-highest hit. Those contracts served as a punch in the gut for a Patriots team that hardly utilized the two veteran players.
Whether the onus should fall on the team or the players themselves is irrelevant in regards to the fact that it was wasted money for the Patriots organization.
We’ll see if that ends up being the case for some of the players with big cap hits for the team this time around. Here are the 15 players with the biggest cap hits for the Patriots heading into the 2023 season (via Spotrac):
Matt Judon
Cap hit: $18,107,222
Hunter Henry
Cap hit: $15,500,000
Trent Brown
Cap hit: $12,250,000
Davon Godchaux
Cap hit: $10,500,000
Deatrich Wise
Cap hit: $8,700,000
David Andrews
Cap hit: $6,998,522
Kendrick Bourne
Cap hit: $6,872,539
DeVante Parker
Cap hit: $6,206,250
Jonathan Jones
Cap hit: $6,191,176
Ja'Whaun Bentley
Cap hit: $5,050,000
Riley Reiff
Cap hit: $5,000,000
JuJu Smith-Schuster
Cap hit: $4,674,509
Adrian Phillips
Cap hit: $4,537,500
Mike Gesicki
Cap hit: $4,450,000
Mac Jones
Cap hit: $4,250,823
