OK, yes.
But, if you are counting OL, DL, and LB as those 'non-skill positions closest to the ball' then you are also including a fairly large group of the football team.
That's 12 of 22.
LT is commonly the second-highest paid player on the team.
DE is usually third.
Let's look at the franchise tag amounts (F) and the Pats highest paid player, per salary cap accounting, (P) at each position:
QB: F=$14.6mm P=$14.6
RB: F=$6.6mm P=$4.0
WR: F=$9.9mm P=$9.8
TE: F=$4.5mm P=$2.0
OL: F=$8.5mm P=$5.5
DT: F=$6.1mm P=$2.8
DE: F=$9.0mm P=$9.8
LB: F=$8.3mm P=$6.4
S : F=$6.3mm P=$2.5
CB: F=$10.0mm P=$3.0
It's interesting to compare how the Patriots allocate salary compared to league averages. However, much of that is driven by the average age of that position, how many players are still on their rookie contract, and so forth. The Pats are way under at OL, DT, and secondary, and at or above at skill positions QB and WR, but track fairly closely in terms of general trends. (Obviously no one team is going to have top five salary figures for all positions in any year). You cannot look at those numbers and conclude that, compared to league trends, the Patriots allocate a lot more of their cap toward the lines and away from the skill positions.
Given the big deals in the past for players like Moss, Law, and Samuel, I think the Patriots are closer to league-average trends, over time, and harder to generalize than we'd like.
Other than to say that they tend to allocate their money in a smart way.