The New England Patriots are at a crossroads with Jonnu Smith.
The standout tight end signed a massive four-year, $50 million contract in the 2021 offseason with the team, following two productive seasons with the Tennessee Titans. Over the course of his final two years with the Titans, he caught 76 balls for 887 yards and 11 touchdowns.
But things clearly haven’t worked out the same way in New England. Even when healthy, Smith has been completely disappointing, catching only 55 passes for 539 yards and one touchdown.
Per Miguel Benzan of “Pats Cap” on Twitter, Smith has a $17.2 million cap hit for 2023. In 2024, there is a $18.4 million cap hit. Unfortunately for the Patriots, it isn’t easy to just release him.
Cutting Smith before June 2 results in a dead cap hit of $2,581,471 for the team, but cutting him with a June 2 designation would result in a savings of $3,823,529 to the cap. The Patriots can designate up to two players per season to this post June 2 designation, and they could ultimately go this route with Smith.
Trading Smith with a June 1 designation will save the team $3,668,529 to the cap, but trading him post-June 2 would save them $10,073,529.
The Patriots could also extend Smith and look to add void years to the deal, which is a route taken by many teams, if they wish to give themselves cap flexibility sooner.
They already restructured his deal earlier in the season to borrow cap space from future years, which is why they’re in this position in the first place. But they could convert salary into signing bonus or add voidable years if they wish to spread out the cap hit for flexibility.
The Patriots could also just keep Smith, as new coaching changes may be able to get more out of him in the offense. Newly hired offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Bill O’Brien could utilize him in an offense that typically runs a lot of 12 personnel.
Smith is just 27 years old, and he still has a lot to give. At times, it felt like his best attributes were beginning to show up for New England, particularly his ability to break tackles with the ball in his hands. He had 200 yards after the catch with a team high of 7.4 yards after the catch, per reception, and only two dropped passes on the season.
Smith was targeted just 38 times in 2022, and he only played 40 percent of the snaps, while Hunter Henry played 75 percent. If the Patriots still like Smith as much as they did in 2021 to give him a boatload of money, then they would be wise to keep him for one more season.
However, if the Patriots were to trade him, these are some of the packages and teams that would make sense.