The Patriots have the top-2 highest paid Tight Ends in the league in 2022.
Hunter Henry with a $15,000,000 cap number and Jonu Smith with a $13,691,176 cap number.
Ranking 3 thru 7 are the following:
Mike Gesicki Dolphins $10,931,000
Mark Andrews Ravens $9,657,611
Evan Engram Jaguars $8,970,588
Travis Kelce Chiefs $8,855,882
Due to Kyler Murray and Nick Bosa being selected to multiple Pro Bowls in their first four seasons in the league, their teams' 5th-year option for the 2023 season have become quite expensive.
Murray will require a 5th-year at $29,703,000.
Bosa will require a 5th-year at $17,869,000.
If their teams opt out of those 1-year 5th-year option salaries both players will become free agents in 2023.
Patriots trivia:
The Patriots drafted Laurence Maroney in 2006. After a little over three seasons in New England, what team was he traded to in 2010? (Answer is at the bottom of this post)
Worst Wonderlic Scores in NFL Scouting Combine History
4 Darren Davis Iowa State RB
4 Morris Claiborne LSU CB
5 Ed Prather Mississippi State DB
6 Oscar Davenport North Carolina QB
6 Frank Gore Miami RB
6 Vince Young Texas QB
7 Kelvin Benjamin Florida State WR
7 Tavon Austin West Virginia RB
7 Terrelle Pryor Ohio Sate QB
8 Bobby Wagner Utah State LB
8 Vince Evans USC QB
8 Chris Leak Florida QB
Gronk's girlfriend on whether or not this retirement is permanent: “I am a honest lady, and honestly, I don’t feel like this one is the forever one, so I think maybe he’ll come back again. I feel like him and Tom are just having fun, like, ‘retired, not retired, retired, not retired.'
Seth Trachtman from the Yardbarker.com listed his projections for the stingiest defenses for the 2023 season, and he has the Patriots at the top of his list.
He also slots the Bills at #2, giving the AFC East the top-2 teams in his rankings.
The Dolphins come-in at #18 and the Jets, even with their terrific draft, are slotted dead last.
Maybe you've wondered about offensive and defensive line gaps. If you have you can see them below. I have seen defensive shades or techniques labeled differently, so you may have seen different than what's below, but they're mostly all the same, except for the outside defensive line techniques can be labeled differently.
Many expect QB Mac Jones to make a pretty big leap in his second season in the NFL, but there are some who'd disagree. One of those people is Chris Trapasso from CBS Sports, who wrote the following back in May:
"I watched every Jones drop back in 2022 and believe he had one of the most overrated rookie quarterback seasons in quite some time. It felt like the praise for Jones got out of control. Even when New England went on a seven-game win streak, the team was winning not because of Jones' play but those around him and the defense.
He operated an extraordinarily quarterback-friendly system decently well and once he faced strong defenses late in the season, his limitations hindered what the Patriots were capable of offensively.
Now, in the off-season, Bill Belichick traded perennially steady guard Shaq Mason, replaced him with first-rounder Cole Strange and added a unique, nearly 6-foot-3 speedster to the receiver group following a trade for Devante Parker. OK, that's all mostly helpful for Jones. But the club doesn't have an offensive coordinator yet. Weird.
Jones may take a minuscule step in New England, but his lacking physical tools will linger as the main reason he can't hang with the other youthful quarterbacks in today's NFL."
Just in case you were wondering........A single cowhide (which come from cows in Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska) makes 10 NFL footballs.
NFL Stadium Capacities:
1 MetLife Stadium 82,500 New York Giants/New York Jets
2 FedExField 82,000 Washington Redskins
3 Lambeau Field 81,441 Green Bay Packers
4 AT&T Stadium 80,000 Dallas Cowboys
5 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 77,500 Los Angeles Rams
6 Arrowhead Stadium 76,416 Kansas City Chiefs
7 Empower Field at Mile High 76,125 Denver Broncos
8 Bank of America Stadium 75,523 Carolina Panthers
9 Mercedes-Benz Superdome 73,208 New Orleans Saints
10 NRG Stadium 72,220 Houston Texans
11 New Era Field 71,608 Buffalo Bills
12 M&T Bank Stadium 71,008 Baltimore Ravens
13 Mercedes-Benz Stadium 71,000 Atlanta Falcons
14 Lincoln Financial Field 69,596 Philadelphia Eagles
15 Nissan Stadium 69,143 Tennessee Titans
16 TIAA Bank Field 69,132 Jacksonville Jaguars
17 CenturyLink Field 69,000 Seattle Seahawks
18 Levi's Stadium 68,500 San Francisco 49ers
19 Heinz Field 68,400 Pittsburgh Steelers
20 FirstEnergy Stadium 67,895 Cleveland Browns
21 Lucas Oil Stadium 67,000 Indianapolis Colts
22 Gillette Stadium 66,829 New England Patriots
23 U.S. Bank Stadium 66,655 Minnesota Vikings
24 Raymond James Stadium 65,890 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
25 Paul Brown Stadium 65,515 Cincinnati Bengals
26 Hard Rock Stadium 65,326 Miami Dolphins
27 Ford Field 65,000 Detroit Lions
28 State Farm Stadium 63,400 Arizona Cardinals
29 Soldier Field 61,500 Chicago Bears
30 RingCentral Coliseum 56,057 Oakland Raiders
31 Dignity Health Sports Park 27,000 Los Angeles Chargers
(Trivia answer: Denver Broncos)