As is usual with defending Super Bowl champions; the New England Patriots head in to this off-season with one of the toughest salary cap situations in the NFL. They have talented players scattered throughout their roster, and it is always tough to keep that much talent intact, while staying under the cap.
Darrell Revis is the most important player that the Patriots must retain this off-season. As currently constructed, his contract has a $25 million cap number for 2015. That is simply not manageable for the Patriots. Expect both sides to come together on a long-term deal that would keep Revis in New England for the foreseeable future for a more manageable cap price. Bringing back unrestricted free agent safety Devin McCourty is also an absolute must for the Patriots.
After taking care of Revis and McCourty, the Patriots will have to get creative in order to keep their loaded roster together. Veteran free agents Shane Vereen, Dan Connolly and Stevan Ridley seem fairly expendable, while kicker Stephen Gostkowski is a very interesting case.
The Patriots drafted Gostkowski in the fourth round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He was brought in as the replacement to legendary Pats’ kicker Adam Vinatieri who signed a free agent contract with the Indianapolis Colts earlier that off-season. Gostkowski has been one of the best and most steady kickers in the NFL over his career with the Patriots.
Gostkowski was a free agent back in 2010, and the Patriots gave him a four-year extension, with an average of $3.5 million per season. That was one of the richest contracts ever given to a kicker. After another great season, Gostkowski’s contract is up and he will become an unrestricted free agent this off-season.
The Patriots have two options if they decide to bring Gostkowski back. First, sign him to a long term extension. If would be fair to expect Gostkowski to want a bit of a pay raise, so a $4 million a year contract seems about right. They could also franchise tag their kicker, and that rate is expected to be right around the $4 million a year figure as well, maybe a touch higher. With the uncertainty surrounding McCourty’s free agency, it would be wiser to use the tag on him, as opposed to Gostkowski. Replacing a great safety is much tougher to do than replacing an elite level kicker.
While it is certainly important, the kicker position is among the easiest to replace in the NFL. Gostkowski is arguably the best in the league, but the Patriots could really use that $4+ million to take care of other positions on their roster.
Letting Gostkowski walk to test the free agency waters is the best option for the Patriots this off-season. If he does not get the offers that he expects, and wants to return on a team friendly deal, then the Patriots would accept him back with open arms. If not, move along and find another option in the draft. Justin Manton from Louisiana-Monroe, Michael Hunnicutt from Oklahoma, Kyle Brindza from Notre Dame and Sam Ficken from Penn State are all strong kicker options in the upcoming draft who would cost the Patriots nothing more than a sixth or seventh round draft pick and a league minimum salary.
Losing Gostkowski would cost the Patriots some stability, but it could allow them to strengthen up other positions. On top of that, the future rookies mentioned above could also become reliable kickers, just like Gostkowski became for the Patriots after they moved on from Vinatieri.
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