2014 NFL Free Agency: New England Patriots- Potential Cuts and Free Agents
Byron Lambert, Rosterwatch.com

The Patriots have an intriguing offseason ahead. Some pundits have said all along that 2014 is the target year for the next Pats Super Bowl appearance. Time will tell, as the team must face some offseason obstacles first.

New England begins the offseason with $5.5M in projected salary cap space. They only have 11 unrestricted free agents. However, some big names are on that list including: Aqib Talib (CB), Julian Edelman (WR), LeGarrette Blount (RB), and Brandon Spikes (LB). Talib and Edelman are strong candidates to return.

The running back situation becomes an interesting one. We’ve heard rumors that Blount wants over $3M/yr. Of course- Shane Vereen, Stevan Ridley, and Brandon Bolden are only on the books for a combined total of $2.5M themselves in 2014. We find it hard to believe the Patriots will pay Blount what he wants, but certainly they must be interested in retaining him at the right price.

Precariously, Vereen and Ridley are both in contract years in 2014. Brandon Bolden will hit restricted free-agent status after next season. It’s very hard to imagine the Patriots being overly loyal to any running back. We are curious to see if they value any of those players enough to extend the olive branch an offseason early.

Our own NFL Draft Contributor and Boston native, Mike Loyko of NEPD.com, came on the RosterWatch Sirius XM show over the weekend to discuss Vince Wilfork (DT) and Ryan Mallet (QB). Long-time mammoth staple of the Patriots defense, Vince Wilfork comes off of a torn achilles and heads straight into a contract year. His cap figure for 2014 is $11.6M. As Mike told us on Saturday night, expect a cap friendly extension for Wilfork.

Mallet is another head-scratcher himself. As Loyko said- “Mallet is most valuable to the Patriots”. As he enters the final year of his contract it’s time for the Patriots to make a decision about his future. They could likely trade him to a quarterback-needy team like the Vikings for draft picks. They could attempt to extend him- if Mallet is even agreeable to a continued back-up role for the foreseeable future. Or, they can let him play the deal out and take a big risk losing an asset they’ve been building in house to free-agency for nothing in return in 2015. We will certainly be snooping around this topic at the NFL Combine this week.