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Mike Reiss, ESPN Staff Writer
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The New England Patriots are prepared to back up the Brinks truck under new head coach Jerod Mayo in hopes of returning the franchise to prominence.
“We’re bringing in talent, 1,000 percent,” Mayo said Monday with a touch of humor on sports radio WEEI. “We have a lot of cap space and cash. We’re ready to burn some cash!”
The Patriots have a projected $65 million in salary cap space, according to ESPN’s Roster Management System. It is a fluid total that currently ranks fourth in the NFL.
The team is coming off a 4-13 season, which led to a parting of ways with coach Bill Belichick after 24 seasons. Mayo was quickly tapped as his successorand owner Robert Kraft said last week that the plan is to empower Mayo and the existing personnel staff — headlined by director of player personnel Matt Groh and director of scouting Eliot Wolf — to rebuild the team.
Spending has been a hot-button topic around the Patriots in recent years, with Kraft previously saying he didn’t set limits on Belichick, who had the final word on all personnel and budget decisions.
The Patriots ranked 30th of the NFL’s 32 teams in cash spending last season at $188 million, according to Roster Management System, which analyzes every NFL contract. The Cleveland Browns were No. 1 at $282 million.
The Patriots were as high as third in 2021, when a then-record binge in unrestricted free agency resulted in spending totaling $222 million. But they were as low as 31st twice over the past decade — in 2020 and 2014.
Over the past 10 years, the Patriots ranked last in the NFL in cash spending at $1.62 billion, according to Roster Management System. The Philadelphia Eaglesat $1.92 billion, were tops over that span.
Mayo’s remarks in Monday’s radio interview foreshadow critical personnel decisions ahead for the Patriots, with starting safety Kyle Duggerstarting offensive guard/tackle Mike Onwenupass rusher Josh Uchetight end Hunter Henry and receiver Kendrick Bourne among their top players scheduled for unrestricted free agency.
The Patriots also own the third pick in the NFL draft — their highest selection in Kraft’s 30 years of ownership.
“We’re going to take the best available player for the biggest need on the team; offensive line, receiver, quarterback — pick your [choice],” Mayo said in the radio interview.
The draft remains the lifeblood of what Kraft views as the best way to build a championship team.
“In the end, to be good in this league, you have to draft well,” Kraft said last March at the NFL’s annual meeting. “Because given the salary cap and the value of people you draft, as opposed to hiring them as free agents, that’s where your greatest return comes from.
“If you look when we won the Super Bowls, we always seemed to have 12 or 15 players who were really products of the draft. When you get them on their rookie contracts, when you’re dealing with salary cap it allows you to compete better.”
