The New England Patriots are projected to have the fourth-most salary cap space in the NFL this offseason.
They want to keep it that way.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick was asked Tuesday, hours before the NFL trade deadline, whether he is looking to "preserve that position of power" from a cap space standpoint as the Patriots evaluate potential deadline moves.
"That's definitely an accurate perspective that you've identified," Belichick replied. "And when you're looking at salary cap and player salaries and things like that, you just can't look at it in a short-term window. At some point, you have to take a longer look at things. So we would take those things that you mentioned into consideration and as we look at our team currently, as we look at any potential acquisitions or any transactions with our players, we’d have to keep an eye on all those things.
"I think you've really articulated it pretty well. Those are all considerations that you’d have to be aware of if you got into any discussions like that."
The Patriots were cap-strapped for much of the 2020 offseason -- as Belichick surprisingly has noted multiple times this week -- before receiving some financial relief when eight players opted out of the season due to COVID-19 concerns.
New England currently has roughly $22.8 million in cap space, according to the NFLPA's public salary cap report. That number is projected to jump to between $65 million and 70 million in 2021 and could surge even higher if Stephon Gilmore ($16.4 million cap hit in 2021) is traded or veteran opt-outs Dont'a Hightower ($12.4 million), Marcus Cannon ($9.6 million) or Patrick Chung ($5.1 million) retire.
With the NFL salary cap set to plunge this offseason as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the Patriots' financial flexibility could make them major players in the free agent and trade markets come spring.
"I don't think anything would preclude a transaction from happening or not happening (at the trade deadline), but you'd have to be aware of all those things and try to make the best decision, both long term and short term, for your team," Belichick said. "There may be one thing that overrides another, but in the end, that's what the decision would be -- how much does this help us now, is there a cost in the future and what is that cost, so forth? Or, what would that gain be if we were to trade a player away? ...
"So there are some implications that we would work through on the financial side or the people that handle that information. And not just currently, but over the coming years."
The trade deadline is at 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday. The 2-5 Patriots have needs at defensive tackle, wide receiver, tight end and linebacker and a few valuable trade chips in Gilmore and left guard Joe Thuney but are not expected to be highly active Tuesday, according to multiple reports in recent days.
