Patriots Bill Belichick says Patriots have been ‘one of the lowest spending teams’ in NFL during recent years The Patriots spent a lot of money in 2021. Belichick said that’s hasn’t been the case for the totality of the past three years.
The final question of Bill Belichick’s last press conference of the 2022 season was a straightforward one.
Does Belichick feel like the Patriots got enough bang for their buck with last year’s free-agent spending spree?
Despite the team missing the playoffs for the second time in three years, Belichick said he feels the team improved “quite a bit.” He also noted that over the past three years, the Patriots have averaged one of the lowest spending totals in the NFL.
“When you look at the National Football League and the salary cap situation, it’s the same for all teams,” Belichick said. “What we try to do is we look at it over a time frame. One year is a polaroid snapshot, but actually there are multiple years involved.
Advertisement:
“At some point, the reconciliation has to come. Our spending in 2020, our spending in 2021 and our spending in 2022, the aggregate of that, was we were 27th in the league in cash spending. Couple years we’re low, one year was high, but over a three-year period, we are one of the lowest spending teams in the league.”
Last year, the Patriots added a Pro Bowl linebacker in Matthew Judon, along with several weapons for Mac Jones including Hunter Henry, Jonnu Smith, and Kendrick Bourne. They bolstered their defense by bringing in Jalen Mills and re-upping Deatrich Wise among others.
The moves cost them $137.5 million in guaranteed money, according to ESPN.
“I think when you look at the aggregate of all those players that we improved our team quite a bit with that group of players, yes,” said Belichick