The New England Patriots could save $10.5 million by cutting Henry Henry this offseason. However, the team plans to keep the tight end in 2023.
Per theScore’s Jordan Schultz, the Patriots don’t intend on releasing Henry before the final season of his three-year, $37.5 million contract.
“The team values him as a player and as a leader, while new OC Bill O’Brien plans to better maximize his pass-catching ability,” Schultz wrote Sunday on Twitter.
Henry initially made the signing seem shrewd when scoring a career-high nine touchdowns in 2021. However, his production dipped last season.
The 6-foot-5, 250-pound tight end caught 41 of 59 targets for 509 yards and two touchdowns in 17 games.
Then again, nobody flourished in New England’s timid offense last season. Henry caught a higher rate of his targets (69.5%) in 2022, but his average depth of target declined from 9.7 to 7.7.
He also received just seven red-zone targets after getting 17 (nine inside the 10) in 2021.
Henry has played every game since signing with New England and out-performed fellow 2021 signee Jonnu Smith. Since they could have recouped all but $5 million of Henry’s cap hit, the Patriots might have given more thought to cutting him if they weren’t approximately $36.4 million under the cap.