Cap Space Strategy: Will Patriots Exercise Contract Option for Quarterback Mac Jones?

The NFL announced a record increase to the salary cap for 2024, but is it enough for the New England Patriots to risk extending the contract of regressing quarterback Mac Jones?

Mo' money, mo' problems?

No offense to the lyrical stylings of Notorious B.I.G., but for the New England Patriots the NFL's record increase to the salary cap might lead to mo' solutions.

The league announced Friday that the 2024 cap will be $255.4 million per club, with an additional $74 million per team to be used for player benefits, performance bonuses and retirement plans. Total player payrolls for this season will $329.4 million, an unprecedented increase of more than $30 million per team. The dramatic rise is the result of the full repayment of all amounts advanced by the clubs and deferred by the players during the Covid pandemic as well as an extraordinary increase in media revenue for the 2024 season.

Clutchpoints

Bottom line: The Patriots have a whopping $82.9 million in salary cap room, second-most in the NFL. That number could rise to $96 million if the team releases or restructures the guarantee-heavy contract of veteran cornerback J.C. Jackson.

The Patriots have a new coach in Jerod Mayo, fresh personnel leadership in the form of Eliot Wolf, the No. 3 pick in April's NFL Draft the financial muscle to bring in new talent in free agency.

“We’re bringing in talent, 1,000 percent,” Mayo said in a recent radio interview. “We have a lot of cap space and cash. Ready to burn some cash!”

Mayo's Patriots Plan: 'Burn Some Cash!'

NFL free agency officially opens March 11. The Patriots' main decision: What to do with quarterback Mac Jones.

Though this week new offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt gave him his second "clean slate" in as many years, if New England exercises the fifth year option on the 2021 first-round pick it will cost them a cool $34 million.

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