Patriots Benefit From NFL’s Record-Breaking Salary Cap Increase

Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo definitely wasn’t joking when he said they had money to burn. New England could have nearly nine figures to spend this offseason.

The Gillette Stadium offices are about to look like that Scrooge McDuck gif.

The NFL announced that the salary cap for the upcoming season will be $329.4 million per club, a total of more than $10.5 billion league-wide. That’s a $30 million increase per club, which is “the result of the full repayment of all amounts advanced by the clubs and deferred by the players during the COVID pandemic” as well as a truly absurd increase in media revenue for 2024.

The NFL also announced franchise and transition tag numbers are locked in.

What does this mean for the Patriots, you ask? They’ll have nearly $83 million in cap space, per OverTheCap.com, the second most in the NFL behind the Washington Commanders. That number could increase to around $96 million if New England decides to cut J.C. Jackson, which is the expectation at this point.

It’s fairly obvious that this is good news for all teams, but the Patriots now have an opportunity to make a play for some of the top free agents on the open market. They’re also more likely to utilize the franchise tag, perhaps on someone like Michael Onwenu, who would be owed more than $20 million.

It’s almost time to start burning.