New England Patriots Revise Deatrich Wise’s Contract, Reportedly Creating $1.9 Million In Cap Space

The New England Patriots needed cap flexibility following the acquisition of wide receiver DeVante Parker from the Miami Dolphins.

The organization found it by restructuring defensive lineman Deatrich Wise Jr.’s contract in a move that creates $1.9 million in space, as reported Wednesday by ESPN’s Field Yates.

Wise, 27, had agreed to remain with New England in free agency last March on a four-year, $22 million deal that included $10 million in guarantees. The Super Bowl LIII champion now enters 2022 with $2.85 million of his base salary converted into a signing bonus.

By borrowing from future years, Wise’s cap number will reduce from $6.191 million to $4.291 million for the upcoming season. It will then rise from $6.25 million to $7.2 million both in 2023 and 2024, according to Miguel Benzan of PatsCap.

The Patriots selected Wise in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL draft at No. 131 overall. The 6-foot-5, 275-pound Arkansas product stands as the lone pick from his abbreviated rookie class — which featured defensive end Derek Rivers and offensive tackles Antonio Garcia and Conor McDermott — still on the roster.

“He’s a very hard worker,” Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said of Wise’s development in 2020. “And he’s the type of kid that when you ask him to work on something, he really goes all in and makes a strong commitment to try to improve it and make it better.”

Wise has appeared in 78 games during his New England tenure, including 27 starts, to record 172 tackles, 17 sacks, a pair of forced fumbles and a recovery returned for a touchdown.

Last season, Wise started a career-high nine games and played 48% of the defensive snaps. A total of 41 tackles, three sacks, four pass deflections and one forced fumble were notched on the way to an AFC playoff berth. Pro Football Focus credited the versatile bookend with 27 quarterback pressures and 24 defensive stops.

Following Wise’s revised pact, New England has just under $1.02 in cap space, as tracked by Benzan. Additional movement will be required to sign arrivals from the 2022 draft.

The Patriots head further into April with the rights to eight picks, including No. 158 overall from the Dolphins as part of last weekend’s Parker trade.

Parker, 29, has two years remaining on his contract extension from 2019, when he set career highs in targets, receptions, yards and touchdowns. In addition to $100,000 workout bonuses and $500,000 in per-game roster bonuses, the veteran wideout is scheduled to carry a $5.65 million base salary in 2022 and a $5.7 million base salary in 2023.

During his final campaign with Miami, which was limited to eight starts due to shoulder and hamstring injuries, Parker caught 40 passes for 515 yards and two touchdowns. His longest play gained 42 yards.

The former first-round pick out of Louisville joins a receiver depth chart in New England that consists of Jakobi Meyers, Kendrick Bourne, Nelson Agholor, Ty Montgomery, N’Keal Harry, Kristian Wilkerson, Tre Nixon and Malcolm Perry.