The Patriots should move on their ponys

At age 28, James White is arguably the best and most valuable back the Patriots could trade away. A superbowl hero, White is clutch and would become the instant number one on half the teams. The Patriots are in need of salary cap space and White is slated to make $4.59 million in 2020 and getting rid if him would save $3.46 million.

Rex Burkhead when healthy has showed he can be a solid number two back. The problem with Burkhead is he is injury prone and inconsistent. Brandon Bolden has shown he can do everything Burkhead can do at a lower level with exception to special teams. Burkhead spent time trying to learn to field punts because he knew his value was diminishing. Burkhead is a year older than White and slated with a cap hit of $3.9 million. The team could save $2.9 million by cutting him. Burkhead could be moved for a sixth round pick.

Brandon Bolden plays special teams and is a lesser skilled Rex Burkhead. Bolden is 30 years old and scheduled to make $1.98 million in 2020. There are probably a hundred backs that can match Bolden's skill level and would come at a lot less. Releasing or trading Bolden would free up $1.4 million dollars. 

Now while White and Bolden look like the Patriots should move on from both, It's Burkhead and Bolden the team should move on from. With a young quarterback White's leadership is invaluable. The combined cap savings of Bolden and Burkhead would be at least four draft picks. The Patriots could trade them in a combo package for a fifth round pick or cut them. The team is in need of talent and there are at least 20 names in the draft who can take on both roles on the team by themselves, creating roster space. That's just the players I researched. 

The Patriots have a whole department who's jobs are to find players, so I am sure my numbers are low. The players I have looked at are between sixth round to undrafted projections. The Patriots have Damien Harris and Sony Michell, so they don't need more than a day three talent. As we saw with Harris, talent falls in the draft all the time. Adding $4.3 million to the salary cap, while not a lot, would go a long way.

The Patriots should also cut Lacosse and save $1.3 Million and with Burkhead and Bolden bring the cap up to $6.4 Million. This would make trying to move some of Gilmore's salary to 2021, a reasonable request.

The Pats as stated need to clear up cap room. Fans are going to the extreme, talking about trading the likes of White, Hightower, Thuney, Mccourty and Gilmore. Patriots Nation is over thinking this. There's an old saying work smarter, not harder. Instead of the Patriots trying to find trade partners for high cap players and then negotiating fair trade deals, then finding replacements players and training them, the Patriots can look at expendable players who can free up cap and who's replacements won't need a lot of work to develop. Yes, Bill likes to move on early but don't jump the gun. All Belichick needs to do is make enough room for the draft picks and a few low tier injury emergency players, that way the team can get through 2020.