Patriots Free Up Cap Space

The Patriots went to bed last night with just over $500K available under the cap after the signing of quarterback Cam Newton became official. Today, however, they woke up flush with $7,794,739 to spend… if they choose.

According to Field Yates, the team freed up $6.55M in cap space by settling a pair of outstanding contract grievances. The first involved the money owed from the release of Antonio Brown ($4 million) last September and the other from the release of Aaron Hernandez ($2.55 million) following his arrest in the Summer of 2013.

After the Antonio Brown and Aaron Hernandez settlements my new Patriots salary cap space number is now $7,794,739.

— Cap Space=$7,794,739 (@patscap) July 11, 2020

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What this allows the Patriots to do in terms of roster additions remains to be seen. However, it does make their situation far more manageable and gives them the flexibility to keep Joe Thuney, even on his $14.78 million franchise tag number. In addition, extensions or other veteran acquisitions have become a bit easier.