With less than an hour before the legal tampering period begins, the Patriots have already made a surprise move this morning.
According to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, the New England Patriots are sending tight end Jonnu Smith to the Falcons in a trade that creates cap space heading into free agency.
New England will reportedly receive a 7th-round pick in the deal, which essentially allows them to unload his salary.
Smith hasn’t lived up to the four-year, $50 million deal he signed prior to the 2021 season, which saw him catch just 28 passes for 294 yards and a touchdown in 2021, along with 27 passes for 245 yards and no touchdowns last season.
Looking at his cap hit, according to Spotrac, Smith was set to carry a nearly $11 million cap number heading into the 2023 season. According to Patriots Cap expert, Miguel Benzan, the deal frees up almost $4 million in space, which allows New England to clear some room for whatever moves they have planned in the coming days.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
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A welcome surprise. An athlete who couldn’t play football. Good trade despite the dead money. Thank the Falcons for this. Time to draft a good TE and maybe sign another as a free agent at a reasonable cost.