New England Patriots: Rex Burkhead does team major favor
By Sam Minton
The New England Patriots restructured Rex Burkhead’s contract which will help out the team a lot.
The New England Patriots are masters when it comes to maneuvering contracts. They always find a way to ensure that they have proper cap space and are saving money.
We have seen numerous amounts of players take pay cuts while in New England. Even Tom Brady himself has. The latest player to take a pay cut is running back Rex Burkhead.
This was going to be an interesting offseason for Burkhead. It almost seemed as though he would be in a position battle. New England has boatloads of running backs and they can only keep so many on the roster.
We know that the Patriots will be keeping guys like Sony Michel and James White but after that things could change. New England could keep Burkhead or trust newer running backs such as J.J. Taylor and Damien Harris.
New England’s latest move makes it seem as though the Patriots will be keeping Burkhead. They reworked his contract and freed up almost one million dollars in cap space.
It’s really stunning to see just how much of a drop in pay Burkhead was willing to agree to.
Source: the Patriots and RB Rex Burkhead have agreed to a reworked final year of his contract. Burkhead gets $550K to sign and drops his base salary from $2.5M to $1.05M, with $400K available in roster bonuses (down from $500K). The move creates $981,250 in cap space.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) July 7, 2020
One would have to think that New England has long term plans for Burkhead. If they wanted to simply get rid of him they wouldn’t have made this deal.
Burkhead has been valuable for the Patriots so far in his career. He is a dual-threat with quality running ability but he can also be dangerous in open space when catching the ball.
Last season we saw the Patriots use Burkhead much more. He had 65 carries for 302 yards and three touchdowns while also catching 27 balls for 279 yards. For a third-string running back that is rather good.
With Cam Newton at quarterback, Burkhead could have a better season catching the ball. He can lineup out wide which could make him a valuable target for Newton (especially if the Patriots have injury problems at running back).
Now it seems as though Harris and Taylor could be battling for a roster spot. The Patriots didn’t use Harris last season but releasing an early draft pick so quick into his career would be disappointing, to say the least.
A request, please throw away the cameras. dark. Next
So Burkhead did the Patriots a big favor. They might even be able to sign another offensive weapon for 2020 now. Hopefully, Burkhead’s pay cut helps out New England and could even spur them to a playoff run.