With the New England Patriots rumored to have a visit lined up with All-Pro wideout DeAndre Hopkins, there are potential cap casualties and players who could be on the bubble to make room.
The Patriots have some options to maneuver the cap and bring in the star wideout.
As of now, the Patriots have around $13,287,568 in cap space, according to Miguel Benzan (@PatsCap on Twitter), and it would be enough to fit Hopkins on the roster.
However, each year the Patriots reserve around $13-$18 million in cap space for moves throughout the season, like practice squad salaries, incentives and other player operation costs.
So even if they were to give Hopkins the money he wants, assuming it’s within the $13.2 million per year range, they would likely need to clear up an additional $15 million at some point. This is easier for the Patriots than other teams to do, since they have less on the books for future years, and less roster spots in 2024 and 2025. They also have less dead money than a lot of teams who have been pushing money around to compete.
Even if Hopkins were to sign and they were to structure the contract to have a low Year 1 cap hit, there are a few likely moves that would happen in a ripple effect for the team.
Using Over The Cap’s interactive cap tool, we’re going to work off the assumption that Hopkins could sign a three-year, $39 million contract with $29 million guaranteed and $21 million due at signing.
Hopkins’ cap hits would be $8 million in 2023, $15 million in 2024 and $16 million in 2025, which is more than fine for one of the best NFL receivers of the past decade, even if he will be 33 years old at the end of the contract.
In 2025, the team could save $7 million with a $9 million cap hit for cutting him outright. They would then have Hopkins, Smith-Schuster, Tyquan Thornton, Kayshon Boutte and Demario Douglas under contract for 2024.
To get back down to the $13-$15 million range, the Patriots would have some options after signing Hopkins to this hypothetical deal.