Patriots will save nearly $12 million by starting Mac Jones

One of the many things that have defined Bill Belichick’s tenure in charge of the New England Patriots is the optimization of the finances. The Patriots are the best team in the NFL when it comes to making the most of cheap contracts.

And, while that wasn’t the reason why they decided to release veteran quarterback Cam Newton (although he was going to make nearly $14 million this season), Robert Kraft must be delighted about the price tag for his new starting quarterback.

As a rookie, Mac Jones will be on a team-friendly deal for the next four years. Moreover, he’ll be the ultimate bargain for the Patriots this season, as he’s due to make just$660,000 as his base salary.

Mac Jones’ Contract Breakdown:

The third overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft signed a4 year, $15,586,352 contract with the Patriots. That includes a$8,695,528 signing bonus, $15,586,352 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $3,896,588, according to Sportrac.

Divide his base salary ($660,000) between the 17 games he’ll play this season, and you’ll find out he’ll make roughly $38,000 per game. That’s far from the $788,000 Cam Newton was expected to make.

Starting Jones Was A Mistake, Says Former Patriots Player

Nonetheless, not everyone is pleased with Bill Belichick’s decision to start Jones. As a matter of fact, former Patriots tight end Jermaine Wiggins thinks it’s a huge mistake and that it could get pretty ugly:

“I think it’s a huge mistake and it has the potential to be really ugly,” Wiggins said. “The fact that you’re handing the keys to your organization to a rookie, on a team that we all expected based on what they did in the offseason has got to be a playoff-caliber football team. Every rookie quarterback is going to deal with growing pains, is going to deal with, you know what, now I’m in the NFL, it’s no longer preseason. They’re the disguising coverages, they’re blitzing, they’re doing all types of things that I’ve never seen before. And it’s just gonna take time for Mac to see certain things.”

Mac Jones has been pretty impressive thus far and we can trustthat Bill Belichick knows what he’s doing. But if it all goes down to finances, then the Patriots made the best possible choice.

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