New England Patriots: Positives and negatives from 2020 season
New England Patriots Positive: Plenty of flexibility to make moves this offseason
Although the 2020 season didn’t go as planned for New England, the Patriots made it through the year with a good idea of the direction of the franchise and what needs to be worked on and focused on when it comes to adding pieces to the team moving forward.
With the offseason now here for New England, it has the positive of flexibility to make moves leading up to the 2021 campaign, and part of the reason for that is because the Patriots didn’t put themselves in a position where they are strapped to any players on the team throughout the 2020 season.
New England could have easily gone out and signed a few players to multi-year deals, such as Cam Newton, or could have tried to temporarily fix some holes on the team via trade throughout the year to try and make a run at the playoffs. But Bill Belichick and company rode out the year with the guys on the roster to see who should be a part of the team moving forward, and the Patriots took a flyer on Newton specifically with just a one-year contract to see what the veteran quarterback has left in the tank.
With that said, New England goes into the offseason with the flexibility to make moves throughout the roster thanks to the current contract situations, the salary cap space and assets such as draft picks to try and improve the roster in 2021 and into the future.
According to Spotrac’s salary cap database, the Patriots have about $55.5 million in cap space available for the 2021 season, which is the fourth-most in the NFL behind the Jacksonville Jaguars, Indianapolis Colts and New York Jets.
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When it comes to 2021 draft picks, New England will also have 10 picks in the upcoming draft, according to the Patriots team website. That includes the No. 15 selection in the first round, followed by one pick in the second and third rounds, three fourth-round picks, one fifth-round pick, two sixth-round picks and one seventh-round selection.
With many questions and holes still remaining on the Patriots depth chart, New England could be in a key position to make some moves this offseason, which is a big positive.