Patriots restructure tight end Jonnu Smith's contract, creates cap space
Patriots restructure tight end Jonnu Smith's contract, creates cap space
Patriots tight end Jonnu Smith had a disappointing first year in New England. Last season the Patriots inked Smith to a four-year, $50 million contract that included $31.25 million guaranteed money.
One year later, the Patriots have restructured Smith’s contract for this season. New England converted $7.965 million of Smith’s salary into a signing bonus, according to ESPN’s Field Yates.
The move will create $5.31 million of cap space for the upcoming 2022 season. Prior to the move the Patriots had only $4 million in space, per OverTheCap.
Patriots director of player personnel Matt Groh said earlier this week that the Patriots were keeping a close tab on the cap with the final roster cuts.
“All those numbers are being crunched and there is certainly a factor and consideration,” Groh said. “There is certainly a financial component with younger players that you bear in mind... We’ve got somebody who’s really, really, really, smart who makes sure we stay on top of all those numbers.”
In 2021, Smith played in 16 games for the Patriots, he caught 28 passes for 294 yards and had one touchdown.
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