Five of the top six New England Patriots’ salary cap hits for the 2026 season are on defense. Leading the Patriots are defensive lineman Milton Williams ($28.5 million) and cornerback Carlton Davis($22 million)
The NFL Salary Cap for the 2026 season rose to an all-time high of $301.2 million. This is an increase of $22 million from the 2025 season. The NFL’s salary cap has increased by nearly $46 million in the last two seasons.
The salary cap hit is a combination of salary, signing bonus money, and roster and workout bonuses. Salary counts in the year it was paid. Roster and workout bonuses count for the season in which they are earned. Signing bonuses can be divided equally among the years of the contract, up to five years. A big downfall of this bonus money is that if a player is waived or traded, any remaining bonus money that has not yet counted against the cap immediately accelerates to the team’s cap for the current season. This is commonly referred to as ‘dead money.’
Top New England Patriots Salary Cap Hits
(Patriots among the NFL’s top 500 in 2026 salary)
NAME TEAM Position Salary Cap Hit % of Cap ($301.2M)
Milton Williams New England Patriots DL/DE $28,500,000 9.46%
Carlton Davis New England Patriots Cornerback $22,000,000 7.30%
Mike Onwenu New England Patriots Guard $17,500,000 5.81%
Christian Barmore New England Patriots DL/DT $17,100,000 5.68%
Harold Landry New England Patriots EDGE/Outside Linebacker $16,350,000 5.43%
Robert Spillane New England Patriots Inside Linebacker $12,320,000 4.09%
Hunter Henry New England Patriots Tight End $11,750,000 3.90%
Morgan Moses New England Patriots Right Tackle $10,400,000 3.45%
Drake Maye New England Patriots Quarterback $9,992,663 3.32%
Will Campbell New England Patriots Left Tackle $9,923,205 3.29%
Kevin Byard New England Patriots Safety $9,000,000 2.99%
Romeo Doubs New England Patriots Wide Receiver $8,600,000 2.86%
Christian Elliss New England Patriots Inside Linebacker $8,555,000 2.84%
Dre’Mont Jones New England Patriots EDGE/Outside Linebacker $7,546,667 2.51%
Rhamondre Stevenson New England Patriots Running Back $7,423,529 2.46%
A.J. Brown New England Patriots Wide Receiver $7,040,000 2.34%
Marcus Jones New England Patriots Cornerback $6,702,500 2.23%
Mack Hollins New England Patriots Wide Receiver $5,550,000 1.84%
Christian Gonzalez New England Patriots Cornerback $4,805,458 1.60%
Alijah Vera-Tucker New England Patriots Guard $4,783,333 1.59%
Aug 11, 2026; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots defensive tackle Milton Williams (97) walks to the practice fields during training camp at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images
Aug 22, 2026; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots wide receiver A.J. Brown (1) hugs Philadelphia Eagles kicker Jake Elliott (4) after the game at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Edward Finan-Imagn Images
Top New England Patriots Salary Cap Hits: Guaranteed Money
New England Patriots Contracts
Player Pos Guarantee at Sign
A.J. Brown WR $51,000,000
Milton Williams DL $51,000,000
Will Campbell T $43,662,103
Drake Maye QB $36,639,764
Romeo Doubs WR $35,000,000
Carlton Davis CB $34,500,000
Christian Barmore DL $31,822,124
Harold Landry ED $26,000,000
Dre’Mont Jones ED $23,100,000
Alijah Vera-Tucker G $21,000,000
Robert Spillane ED $20,600,000
Caleb Lomu T $18,922,478
Marcus Jones CB $17,500,000
Rhamondre Stevenson RB $17,116,000
Hunter Henry TE $15,800,000
Christian Gonzalez CB $15,102,868
TreVeyon Henderson RB $11,143,234
Morgan Moses RT $11,000,000
Mike Onwenu G $8,950,000
Christian Elliss ED $7,750,000
Julian Hill TE $7,500,000
Gabe Jacas ED $6,952,935
Kevin Byard S $6,170,000
Reggie Gilliam FB $6,000,000
Brenden Schooler S $3,600,000
Mack Hollins WR $3,500,000
Ben Brown C $2,300,000
Tommy DeVito QB $1,800,000
Kyle Williams WR $1,515,324
Eli Raridon TE $1,368,152
Caedan Wallace RT $1,215,128
Jared Wilson C $1,154,496
Craig Woodson S $1,066,444
K.J. Britt LB $687,500
Joshua Farmer DL $665,816
James Hudson LT $537,500
Kindle Vildor CB $437,500
Karon Prunty CB $427,348
Dametrious Crownover T $276,432
Myles Montgomery RB $272,500
Tanner Arkin TE $272,500
Channing Canada CB $267,500
Efton Chism III WR $259,000
Andres Borregales K $256,484
Kyle Dixon WR $252,500
Namdi Obiazor LB $238,872
Marcellas Dial CB $212,128
Bryce Baringer P $178,456
Behren Morton QB $149,228
Marcus Bryant T $148,328
Demario Douglas WR $133,332
Jam Miller RB $124,940
Quintayvious Hutchins ED $122,096
Elijah Ponder LB $115,000
Julian Ashby LS $101,672
Jacob Rizy C $85,000
David Blay DL $60,000
Mike Brown S $50,000
Cameron Dorner WR $40,000
Nick DeGennaro WR $35,000
Eric Gregory DL $30,000
Kobe Prentice WR $15,000
JonDarius Morgan G $10,000
Dell Pettus S $9,000
Kenneth Harris CB $7,500
The Last Word
The Patriots are built for success in the short term and have solid odds of competing for a return trip to the Super Bowl. With Drake Maye on his rookie contract, New England is operating with a salary cap that has significant room to make strategic decisions with its cap space. New England will need to decide if it makes more sense to extend players like Onwenu and Ellis, or save the room and use cap space next offseason to shore up needs that surface.
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