I really dont know what is so hard to understand here. Its economy 101.
1. Patriots are one of the very few teams that managed to sign multiple young vets at/near the top of FA on multiple year contracts.
a) they signed them below top of the market or projected market price and well below expected market (if Cap would go up to 210M+)
b) they signed them on multiple years contracts. with cap projected to rise to 260M over next 3 years (and that could be conservative) you can do the math what the contracts for similar players will look like next year or in 2023 and how low these contracts will look in comparison.
Some 90% of contracts signed this year will be 1y contracts. This means teams will be hunting on the much more expensive and much more competitive market (more teams w enough cap space) for these same players again next year.
Signing 14 players on multiple year contracts in this market is major achievement and major value no matter what you think of certain players.
5 x 4y contracts + 3 x 3y contracts + 6 x 2y contracts w most players well under 30 will make this FA class a major bargain in 2022 and beyond.
For players who will end up producing as expected - the bigger question will be if their contracts are not too much “under value“ like its happening with Gilmore for two years now. I bet you didn't think his contract was a bargain then
Its not just Pats. Everyone who managed to sign top young players on 3-4y contracts is a winner in this situation.