NFL Free Agency is underway as former Tennessee Titans TE Jonnu Smith signed a four-year, $50 million dollar deal with the New England Patriots with $31 million dollars guaranteed. Smith was one of the top TE on the market and he finds a new home in New England to team up with newly signed QB Cam Newton. Smith is coming off his best season where he had 41 receptions for 448 yards and 8 touchdowns. He will become one of Newton’s top red-zone targets for the foreseeable future as this roster will have new players.
This is only the start for the Patriots as they acquired OT Trent Brown from the Las Vegas Raiders. They then traded away OT Marcus Cannon to the Houston Texans and acquired draft picks. The Patriots have almost $70 million in cap space and have filled a need at the tight end position. This is only the start of the offseason for Bill Belichick as he is going to rebuild this team.
This is the highest amount Bill Belichick has spent on a receiver as Smith will earn $12.5 million a year. The next highest-paid receiver that Belichick signed on the Patriots was Wes Welker who was earning $9.5 million a year. With the tampering period fully underway, teams will be signing players to bolster their rosters.
All deals will be confirmed two days from now on Wednesday, March 17th when free agency fully opens. The Patriots still have a hefty amount of cap space to sign players they need at positions. It would leave them at around $55 million dollars in cap space to sign more players at positions of need. NFL Free Agency is fully underway as deals will be happening in the tampering period throughout the week.