Scouring the bargain bin
Free agents for Pats to keep eye on
NFL free agency kicked off more than a week ago, and the Patriots appear to have taken a knee.
According to the NFL Players Association’s public salary cap report, the Pats hold roughly $2.8 million in available cap space. Only the Chiefs are working with less room. Once the Patriots placed their franchise tag on offensive guard Joe Thuney and Tom Brady left — saddling them with $13.5 million in dead money — the front office effectively found itself on the fringes of free agency.
Most of the team’s signings have reflected its lack of wiggle room: a fullback, a special teamer, a backup quarterback and reserve wide receiver.
There are cap-clearing steps the Pats could take in the next day or two, but it’s unlikely they’ll budge.
Rush to extend or trade Thuney? Well, Thuney’s agent and/or any potential trade partner would hold significant leverage against the Patriots understanding their free agency position. Best to wait those talks out.
Release Mohamed Sanu to create $6.5 million in room? And go into the regular season with only Julian Edelman, N’Keal Harry, Jakobi Meyers and Damiere Byrd, plus any rookie who may or may not be doomed to fail in Year 1? Yikes.
Ask Dont’a Hightower to take a pay cut to reduce his cap hit, the third-highest on the team? Right after he watched Kyle Van Noy, Jamie Collins and Elandon Roberts walk as free agents, making him the only experienced linebacker left on the roster? Ha.
Get creative with contract restructures or extensions for high-priced players like Hightower, cornerback Stephon Gilmore or right tackle Marcus Cannon, among others? That could work.
Yet even with their limited space, the Pats can pursue free agents. Naturally, they’ll have to go bargain hunting, with at least $7 million still likely needed to sign their upcoming draft class. That’s OK. The bargain bin is where the Patriots have unearthed their best value signings over the years and could mine more free-agent gold.
Here are a few free agents to watch:
Raiders DE Benson Mayowa
Signing an edge rusher like Vinny Curry would make more of a splash, but remember: the Pats’ cap space is limited. Severely limited.
According to Over The Cap, Mayowa should only command a manageable $1.1 million per year in his next deal. At 6-foot-3 and 265 pounds, the lifelong journeyman fits the Patriots’ physical prototype for edge defenders. He posted seven sacks and three forced fumbles last year in Oakland, while generating pressure on 12% of his passrush snaps, per Pro Football Focus.
Mayowa projects as a situational pass rusher for the Pats, who are suddenly in dire need of edge pressure without Van Noy.
Ravens LB Pernell McPhee
A torn triceps was the latest injury to derail McPhee, who had been enjoying a career resurgence last season through Week 7. The veteran linebacker had played roughly 70% of Baltimore’s defensive snaps, acting as a force against the run and decent blitzer. McPhee pocketed three sacks last year, three more than he managed in all of 2018 with Washington.
Health is obviously the question with the 30-year-old, but McPhee’s talents fit what the Patriots annually seek at the position and certainly need heading into the 2020 season. He was a stud at the start of his career in Baltimore, before leaving for the Bears and Redskins. Perhaps a strong career finish awaits McPhee in New England.
Titans LB Kamalei Correa
The versatile Correa saw his playing time double down the stretch last season, when he notched a sack in four of Tennessee’s final five games. At 6-foot-3 and 241 pounds, his game is well balanced between run defense and pass rush. Perhaps most importantly for the Patriots, he graded out as one of 2019’s best coverage linebackers at PFF.
While Correa’s rarely spent time in coverage — 64 total snaps — his experience in a similar defense would be a significant benefit to the Pats, who, like all other franchises, won’t have long to integrate new players into their system this offseason.
Broncos DL Derek Wolfe
The long shot on this list, Wolfe has been victimized by an unusually quiet market. Still, attention is warranted given the Patriots expressed interest in Wolfe as recently as last week, according to The Providence Journal. The 30year-old has annually proven himself to be an impact defender, particularly against the run.
If the Pats can create a little more space and sell Wolfe on a cheap one-year deal to reset his market ahead of an offseason when the cap is expected to spike, there may be a deal to be struck here.