The ever-expanding salary cap will officially be on the rise for the 2023 season with the league announcing a record-high $224.8 million for each NFL team.
It’s a $16.6 million jump from the 2022 cap ceiling.
And this time, the New England Patriots are expected to be sitting pretty with around $38 million in projected salary cap space, per Spotrac.com. That would essentially put the team as fifth in the league in the most cap space heading into the offseason.
The only teams currently ahead of the Patriots are the Chicago Bears, Atlanta Falcons, Cincinnati Bengals and New York Giants. So New England should have the flexibility to make a splash in free agency, along with re-signing pending free agents on their roster.
Estimated 2023 Cap Space
1. #Bears, $98M
2. #Falcons, $56M
3. #Bengals, $44.5M*
4. #Giants, $44.4M
5. #Patriots, $38M
…
30. #Jaguars, -$32M
31. #Buccaneers, -$55M
32. #Saints, -$57M*reserve/future contracts not yet includedhttps://t.co/lSUFgEJ1Xu
— Spotrac (@spotrac) January 30, 2023
There are multiple positions of need for the Patriots, including offensive tackle, wide receiver and safety. They’ll address some areas in the draft, while also making moves in free agency in an effort to put themselves in a position to compete in a stacked AFC East division.
The Patriots are going to have to spend some money to fight fire with fire against their much-improved rivals.
