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As we focus all our attention on who the Patriots will add to their team in the coming months, the reality is some current members will find themselves looking for new employment soon, including a few surprises.
We saw it with players like Shaq Mason (traded) and Kyle Van Noy (released) in 2022 despite both having strong seasons the year before. This year, we could see more shockers.
The Patriots don’t exactly need cap space — they have a bit over $32 million total and $28 million in effective space to spend. But creating a little more wouldn’t hurt, right?
Here are three current Patriots who could be on the outs for money reasons in 2023.
Hunter Henry
This would be a stunner, but the reckoning for the Patriots’ bad tight-end contracts might come sooner than expected.
Trading or cutting Jonnu Smith would cost the team money, and they’ve already restructured his deal once. Doing it again might not be as easy, which leads us to Henry’s hefty contract ($15.5 million cap hit).
Cutting Henry would save a whopping $10.5 million, which would be a no-brainer if he didn’t happen to be New England’s second-leading receiver since arriving here.
On the other hand, the Patriots haven’t re-done Henry’s deal yet, giving them a strong leverage point they can use to get Henry to push some money into next year through restructure or maybe even extension.
It’s much more likely the Patriots want to see Bill O’Brien get his shot to mine the potential of Henry and Smith together than to hit the eject button on one of them before the season. That said, there happen to be two highly thought-of tight ends (Michael Mayer and Dalton Kincaid) hovering around No. 14 in most mock drafts if they wanted to do that…
(Please don’t.)
Lawrence Guy
This would feel like the Van Noy cut in some ways as far as choosing to move on from a respected player who feels like a strong ambassador of the team’s culture. Guy is a leader in the locker room and a true professional of his craft.
He’s also pretty replacement-level in terms of production and doesn’t offer much as a pass-rusher. Right now, he’s a starter by default in the defense’s 3-4 scheme, but he doesn’t necessarily have to be if you grab any cheap veteran help or get a young player in the draft who can step up immediately the way Christian Barmore did.
Clearing Guy off the books creates just over $3 million in cap space as well.
Jake Bailey
The combination of last year’s poor performance and the late-season suspension might this feel like a realistic possibility.
Releasing Bailey wouldn’t do much for the Patriots before June 1, saving just $805,000. But if New England designated him as a post-June 1 cut, those savings go up to $2.8 million.
The former All-Pro hasn’t lived up to that billing since 2020, and the Patriots made the mistake of paying for past performance while his present and future don’t seem to merit it. He and Michael Palardy were legitimately two of the worst punters in football last year.
Whether in the later rounds of the draft or the undrafted free-agent market, there should be some solid options with which to replace Bailey.