The Patriots reportedly made a minor roster move this week to give themselves a bit of financial wiggle room.
New England "slightly reworked" special teamer Cody Davis' contract, freeing up $250,000 in salary cap space, according to a report Tuesday from ESPN's Mike Reiss.
The restructure did not extend Davis' deal, per Reiss' report, with the 33-year-old still set to hit free agency after this season. Following the move, the Patriots have roughly $2 million in available cap space with eight games remaining in the regular season.
Davis, who joined the Patriots in 2020, will be unavailable for those games as he recovers from a season-ending knee injury suffered during the Patriots' Week 6 win over the Browns in Cleveland. New England subsequently placed the special teams ace on injured reserve and signed undrafted rookie Raleigh Webb off the Baltimore Ravens' practice squad to handle many of Davis' duties in the kicking game.
Before his injury, which left special teams captain Matthew Slater "gutted," Davis ranked second on the team in special teams snaps. He still ranks second among Patriots players in special teams tackles with six despite missing the last three games, trailing only impressive UDFA Brenden Schooler (eight).
The 5-4 Patriots are preparing to host the 6-3 New York Jets this Sunday at Gillette Stadium. The AFC East matchup kicks off a challenging second-half schedule for New England that includes five games against teams currently occupying playoff spots.
