Patriots walk back claims of highly active free agency incoming

Entering the 2024 offseason with nearly $80 million in cap space, the New England Patriots have the financial flexibility to be big spenders in free agency, which first-year head coach Jerod Mayo had previously suggested the team intends to do.

Or so that’s what we thought. 

Mayo made comments during a radio appearance on WEEI earlier this offseason, shortly after he named the next head coach of the Patriots, where he said he anticipates New England would “burn some cash” to bolster their roster. Now that he’s had time to reassess, Mayo understands that he may have been overzealous.

In a more recent interview, Mayo caught up with Karen Guregian of MassLive.com, where he had the opportunity to backtrack some of his previous statements and took full responsibility.

Patriots HC walks back claims of big free agency spending

“You know, I kind of misspoke when I said ‘burn some cash,’ but I was excited when you see those numbers,” Mayo told Guregian. “But when you reflect on those numbers… you don’t have to spend all of it in one year. This is going to be a process,” he added.

While Mayo is eager to hit the ground running to begin his tenure as head coach in the first season of the post-Bill Belichick era, he has come to understand Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was the Pats dynasty that spanned across multiple decades under the previous regime. 

The timing of Mayo’s remarks is intriguing, considering free agency is less than two weeks away. We must now re-evaluate the expectations previously set for the Patriots this offseason regarding their activity in free agency or lack thereof.

New England reportedly already has their eyes on a veteran free agent quarterback Joe Flacco, who revived his career with the Cleveland Browns in 2023 en route to earning AP Comeback Player of the Year honors.