Ordinarily, you’d expect the worst teams to have a lot of salary cap space and the best teams to have very little salary cap space because the best teams have a lot of good players to pay. Heading into 2017, there’s one exception to that: The Super Bowl champion Patriots.
While nine of the 10 teams with the most cap space available in 2017 were teams that missed the playoffs, the 10th is the Patriots. Via Spotrac, the Patriots head into 2017 with $63 million in cap space, which is the sixth-most in the NFL. Only the Browns, 49ers, Buccaneers, Titans and Jaguars have more cap space than the Patriots.
That’s a testament to the way Bill Belichick has run the team since taking over in 2000: Belichick is always very careful not to overpay for players, and he doesn’t hesitate to let high-priced veteran players walk and replace them with inexpensive younger players.
The Patriots have to feel particularly good about where they stand compared to the rest of their division: The Dolphins have $29 million in cap space, the Bills have $27 million and the Jets are $7 million over the cap, meaning they’ll have to make some roster moves just to get under the cap before the start of the league year next month. The Patriots have a lot more room to improve their roster than the other teams in their division do.
New England is on top, and well-positioned to stay on top. No one should be surprised if a year from now, the Patriots are again celebrating a title.
