Why Patriots Weren’t ‘Watching Their Spending’ In Uncertain Offseason
The New England Patriots are the only team in the NFL to have already signed their entire 2020 NFL Draft class.
There’s at least one pretty good explanation for that: It didn’t cost a lot of cash.
ESPN’s Dan Graziano reported Wednesday that NFL owners are “watching their spending” in an uncertain offseason that could lead to a 2020 slate of games played without fans. Graziano pointed out that only two total first-round picks have signed their rookie contracts. There are 17 teams, according to Pro Football Rumors’ tracking, that haven’t signed a single one of their draft picks.
The Patriots, who traded out of the first round, only had to spend $8,677,844 in signing bonuses for their entire draft class. That’s less than the projected figure it will cost the San Francisco 49ers to sign 14th overall pick Javon Kinlaw. If the Patriots had stayed at No. 23 overall, it would have cost a projected $7 million to sign that pick.
So, without a lot of cash flow needed, the Patriots didn’t need to wait to do the inevitable by signing their draft picks.
