The New England Patriots and the rest of the NFL now know the spending ceiling for the upcoming season. According to a report by Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the league informed its clubs on Monday that the salary cap for 2023 will be set at $224.8 million — a significant increase compared to last year’s $208.2 million.
New England will be under that new salary cap number quite a bit.
Per calculations done by cap expert Miguel Benzan, the Patriots currently have $34.07 million to operate with. The team of head coach Bill Belichick, which finished last year with an 8-9 record and outside the playoffs, is therefore well-positioned heading into the offseason.
Not only are they ranked sixth in a league-wide comparison of salary cap space, the Patriots also do not have many marquee players on their 22-player list of soon-to-be free agents. Wide receiver Jakobi Meyers, running back Damien Harris, cornerback Jonathan Jones and special teamers Matthew Slater and Joe Cardona are arguably the only priority FAs.
Considering those circumstances, New England should be expected to be quite active on the open market yet again even outside of retaining its own talent.
In addition to their salary cap space, the Patriots could also own as many as 11 selections in the 2023 NFL Draft. With three picks projected to come their way through the league’s compensatory process, they will also be among the league-leaders in available resources on draft weekend.
The Patriots will be one of the few teams near the top of the league in both categories. All things considered, they are not in a bad spot even after what was a disappointing season for the franchise.