Comparing New England Patriots Cap spending versus the other 31 NFL Teams

Miguel Benzan

8 years ago at 3:09 pm ET

Follow @patscap

Posted Under: Individual Salary Cap

Now that the Patriots are now on their summer hiatus, figured it would be a good time to compare the Patriots’ cap spending at each position and compare that against the other 31 NFL teams. Did the same comparison last year. Saw a better format at http://texanscap.com/2015/06/10/texans-cap-spending-vs-nfl-teams/ so I am going to use it as a template for this blog. A tip of the hat to Troy Chapman, the driving force between texanscap.com. I would like to also thank Jason at OverTheCap.com for providing the positional spending for the other 31 NFL teams.

Quarterback (3)

Cap Spending
Patriots $15,456,795
Average $13,414,900
High $28,193,292
Low $3,351,279

The Patriots rank 15st in cap spending at the quarterback position; compared to the Saints at number 1 and the Titans at number 32.

Running Back (8 includes James Develin as fullback)

Cap Spending
Patriots $5,576,772
Average $6,964,286
High $18,528,750
Low $1,879,939
The Patriots rank 18th in cap spending at the running back position. The Vikings are number 1, and the Titans are number 32.

Wide Receiver (10 includes Matthew Slater)

Cap Spending
Patriots $16,649,592
Average $15,710,428
High $31,129,982
Low $8,268,455
The Patriots rank 10th in cap spending at the wide receiver position. The Lions (Calvin Johnson) are number 1 and the Chiefs are number 32.

Tight End (6)

Cap Spending
Patriots $13,936,013
Average $7,687,912
High $16,975,774
Low $2,441,413
Because of Gronk the Texans rank 4th in cap spending at the tight end position. The Rams are number 1, and the Giants are number 32.

Offensive Line (14)

Cap Spending
Patriots $24,866,711
Average $23,659,841
High $35,639,597
Low $11,656,635
The Patriots are 14th in cap spending at the offensive line position. The high cap numbers of Solder and Vollmer are being offset by so many offensive lineman being on their rookie deals. The Jets are number 1 and the Lions are number 32.

Total Offense (41)

Cap Spending
Patriots $76,512,768
Average $67,555,294
High $83,459,588
Low $52,532,212
The Patriots rank 6th in cap spending on the offensive group. The Broncos are number 1 and the Seahawks are number 32.

Defensive Line (13)

Cap Spending
Patriots $17,096,384
Average $23,873,282
High $47,678,712
Low $7,575,237
The Patriots rank 23rd in cap spending at the defensive line position mainly because they have so defensive linemen on their rookie contracts. The Rams are number 1, and the Ravens are number 32. The Ravens position was a huge surprise to Troy and myself

Linebacker (15 Includes Chris White)

Cap Spending
Patriots $19,872,534
Average $18,405,728
High $34,157,396
Low $8,695,697
The Patriots rank 12th in cap spending at the linebacker position. This is higher than I expected. It may be to having 15 linebackers on the roster. The Colts are number 1. The Seahawks are number 32.

Safety (7 includes Nate Ebner)

Cap Spending
Patriots $6,513,140
Average $9,265,567
High $15,560,341
Low $2,627,229
The Patriots rank 11th in cap spending at the safety position. Am surprised that the Patriots are not in the Top 10 with Devin McCourty on their roster. The Seahawks are number 1 and the Giants are number 32.

Cornerback (9)

Cap Spending
Patriots $6,967,285
Average $15,514,205
High $32,992,747
Low $5,161,650

After letting Revis, Browner, Arrington, and Dennard it should not be a surprise that the Patriots are near the bottom (29th) in cap spending at the cornerback position.

Total Defense (44)

Cap Spending
Patriots $55,797,637
Average $67,059,011
High $86,406,073
Low $48,472,917

The Patriots rank 27th in cap spending on the defensive group.

The next two tables includes just the current cap hit player so a player like James Morris who counted $435,000 in the above table counts as $0 since he is not in the Top 51 list and does not have any bonus counting against the cap.
Patriots Salary Cap Allocation by Position (Matthew Slater, Chris White, and Nate Ebner are included in the Special Team total).

Patriots Salary Cap Allocation by Unit

Summary

The team is currently allocating more of its cap space to the offense than to the defense primarily the offense has the four highest cap hits on the team and the most of core of the defense is still on their rookie deals