The Patriots' cap space has a lot of eyes on it, but what about their cash flow?
There are a ton of variables at play with the New England Patriots' player movement this offseason, so much so that you can only imagine many key players in the Patriots front office got right to work on what to do after the final whistle blew on Super Bowl LX.
There's the Stefon Diggs situation, with that they will owe him in less than a month; the moving pieces of many defensive players; Christian Gonzalez's contract extension; and much more regarding outside players who may or may not be wearing a Patriots jersey in the fall of 2026.
Then there's the overall question of whether the Patriots will be conservative within the confines of cap space or spend big.
2025 was supposed to be a rebuild year. Rebuild years don't end with you in the Super Bowl. Sneaking into the playoffs and being ousted in the Wild Card Round is more believable.
The Patriots are not expected to be major cash spenders this offseason with around $40 million in cap space right now. However, always remember that there's "cap spending," and then there's "cash spending."
In terms of cash, the Patriots broke the top 10 in terms of spending for the first time in a very long time in the 2025 offseason. Keep in mind the Patriots were big spenders in 2021 and still were only ranked 19th in the league.
The Kraft family has always been business first. Which means they abide by budgets. Greg Bedard of the Boston Sports Journal even has Kraft on record saying that the Patriots are a "cash-to-cap team."
However, let's not forget that the Krafts also sold part of the team to an investment firm to keep cash flow moving within the organization. 8%, to be exact, in terms of what they sold.
This could create more opportunities for the Patriots not to play things too by the book come time to spend this offseason. Kraft had never looked happier this year. He and his son, Jonathan, were full of smiles up in their owner's booth. He was even joined by rapper Cardi B at one point.
A culture shift was prominent, and the atmosphere of Gillette Stadium was back to what it once was. You can't put a price tag on it, but this is professional football; you actually will have to.
There could be an internal battle inside Kraft this offseason, and for good reason. He very well could have enjoyed what he saw this year (like most of us did) and wants to evolve it further.
It's not like Kraft to spend big, but the writing may be on the wall if this team wants to get back to another Super Bowl soon and win it.