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The New England Patriots recently freed up millions of dollars in salary cap space, but they didn't get any more relief Wednesday.
The NFL's 4 p.m. ET deadline for franchise-tagged players to negotiate long-term agreements passed without Joe Thuney and the Patriots working out a deal. That means the offensive guard will play the 2020 season on a one-year, $14.78 million contract before becoming an unrestricted free agent in 2021.
It also means New England still has roughly $7.79 million in cap space, as Thuney's 2020 cap hit won't change. So, where does the 2019 second-team All-Pro rank among the Patriots' highest-paid players?
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While Thuney's $14.78 million base salary is the highest on the team after Tom Brady's departure, his cap hit is second to that of cornerback Stephon Gilmore at $18.67 million, according to Spotrac.
Here are the 10 Patriots players with the highest cap hits in 2020, per Spotrac:
CB Stephon Gilmore: $18.67 million
OL Joe Thuney: $14.78 million
LB Dont'a Hightower: $12.44 million
WR Julian Edelman: $9.67 million
OL Marcus Cannon: $9.62 million
OL Shaq Mason: $8.71 million
WR Mohamed Sanu: $6.5 million
CB Jonathan Jones: $5.97 million
CB Jason McCourty: $5.55 million
DB Devin McCourty: $5.4 million
New England Patriots
The Patriots aren't paying any player more than 8.9 percent of their total salary cap, a change from 2019 when Brady accounted for 10.7 percent of the team's cap space.
Yet Thuney still is being paid handsomely for his position, as he'll be the NFL's second-highest-paid guard in 2020 behind Washington's Brandon Scherff.
New England is spending big on the offensive line between Thuney, Marcus Cannon and Shaq Mason but is saving big-time at quarterback, as Cam Newton, Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer have a combined cap hit of roughly $3 million.
