As things stand right now, the New England Patriots are approximately $9.9 million under the NFL’s salary cap. This puts the reigning world champion in the bottom third league-wide when it comes to financial flexibility — and that is with both their punter and their kicker still on the open market and six other free agents remaining unsigned. In short: the Patriots have seen better financial days, at least when their cap space is concerned.
So how did we get to this point? A recent breakdown by salary cap expert Miguel Benzan of the Boston Sports Journal offers one explanation: the Patriots are too top-heavy at the moment when it comes to the construction of their pay roll.