New England Patriots: Interesting salary cap decisions await in 2021
What to do with Marcus Cannon?
Another top saver if traded or released is Marcus Cannon.
Cannon’s cap savings will be a whopping $7M+. Cannon will be 33 next May. He’s been a good, steady, reliable right tackle. It will not be a shock here if he is moved or asked to renegotiate his deal dramatically downward.
Cannon’s replacement, super sixth-round draft pick Michael Onwenu has been terrific, as a previous article predicted. He has even been touted as one of the best rookies in the league by some.
These are the top potential cap gains were the New England Patriots to decide to embark upon a major rebuild in the 2021 offseason. As one can see in the list above (and there are other candidates, as well, see overthecap.com’s list), there are other potential savings to be gleaned without really losing much, if anything, in the way of game-changing talent.
So New England will have some decisions to make at the end of this current season. These decisions may largely rest on how the rest of the season will go. Some are easy calls, some, not so easy.
Two weeks ago most observers would have probably said they’ll tear this team down and rebuild. Now, it’s not so clear. If they can somehow, inexplicably earn a playoff spot, it could change that whole dynamic.
These decisions will also be complicated by the fact that some players with significant cap hits opted out of this season. This is a difficult situation to deal with. Is it a moral decision for the team? Whatever, it’s a tough decision for the team.
On the playing front, the first and foremost decision will have to be on the quarterback. They can re-sign the great Cam Newton, who has been just fine for the Patriots, without even a bottom of the barrel team’s available skill position players at his disposal. But he’ll cost a bunch.
Other than Newton, the answer at quarterback is not likely on their roster. Yet, if they can get Newton on a 2-4 year deal at reasonable money for both (assuming he stays healthy this entire season), he’d be a good bet. This decision is the key to the offseason.