Patriots Irresponsible Financial Decisions Could Finally Bite Them in 2020
By Andrew Gullotta
Over the past 20 years, the Patriots have been the class of the NFL, winning six Super Bowls in that time span. However, after a disappointing finish in 2019, and a underwhelming offseason, it seems like some poor contracts are catching up with New England.
After not being able to retain quarterback legend Tom Brady and linebacker Kyle Van Noy, among others, the Patriots are left with a shell of their great rosters of the past. And to top it off, they have basically zero cap space, and one of largest dead cap numbers in the league.
Updated #NFL Dead Cap Leaders
— Spotrac (@spotrac) June 2, 2020
1⃣ #Panthers, $48M
2⃣ #Jaguars, $37M
3⃣ #Rams, $34M
4⃣ #Patriots, $24M
5⃣ #Dolphins, $22M
Since 2015, only 3 teams with Top 5 dead cap have posted a regular season record over .500.https://t.co/dWFbb7E552
For example, the team is still paying Brady over $13 million to play in Tampa and Antonio Brown $4.5 million after only playing one game for New England. The list goes on and on as the Patriots are paying 19 players that don't currently play for the team. It is evident that some poor contracts are coming back to haunt the storied franchise.
This doesn't sound like the "Patriot Way." The other four teams in the top five for dead cap didn't make the playoffs in 2019, and only three out of 25 teams that were in a similar cap situation to New England have made the playoffs since 2015.
Updated salary cap numbers:
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) May 3, 2020
Top 5:
1) #Browns - $38.5M
2) #Redskins - $35.6M
3) #Lions - $29.4M
4) #Colts - $24.2M
5) #Bengals - $24.1M
Bottom 5:
28) #Buccaneers - $4.9M
29) #Saints - $2.8M
30) #Patriots - $1.7M
31) #Falcons - $1M
32) #Rams - -$5.3M [in the red]
Having large dead cap numbers are usually ominous signs of dysfunction to come, which is why we continue to ask: is this the end to the Patriots' dynasty?