The Patriots re-signed their team captain to a three-year, $27 million contract extension before free agency.
The New England Patriots spent a significant portion of their cap space this offseason to re-sign some of their core players in free agency. Among that group is tight end Hunter Henry, who put his signature under a three-year, $27 million pact before he was set to hit the open market in mid-March.
As part of that deal, Henry also has the opportunity to boost its value. On top of that $27 million base, he stands to earn $1 million annually in incentives.
According to Patriots salary cap expert Miguel Benzan, those incentives are structured as follows:
TE Hunter Henry: Contract incentives
2024: Up to $1 million
$250,000: 50 receptions
$250,000: 55 receptions
$250,000: 60 receptions
$250,000: 65 receptions
2025: Up to $1 million
$250,000: 50 receptions
$250,000: 55 receptions
$250,000: 60 receptions
$250,000: 65 receptions
2026: Up to $1 million
$250,000: 50 receptions
$250,000: 55 receptions
$250,000: 60 receptions
$250,000: 65 receptions
Henry finished the 2023 season with 42 catches, which he took for 419 yards and a team-leading six touchdowns. While he did rank third on the team in receptions behind only Ezekiel Elliott (51) and DeMario Douglas (49), his number is not high enough to allow for any of his incentives to be classified as likely to be earned.
As a consequence, no part of his incentives are currently counted against New England’s salary cap. If he does reach some of the benchmarks, they will be counted versus the team’s books after the season.
Henry doing so is not entirely unrealistic, especially in what could very well be an improved offense. Even though he failed to catch 50 passes in back-to-back years, he reached precisely that mark in his first season as a Patriot in 2021. He also surpassed it in two of his five seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers.
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