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Patriots Insider Floats 'Sneaky' Running Back Plan

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Matthew Davis | Last updated Feb 18, 2025 1:00 PM ET

Amid the New England Patriots' many offseason priorities, running back doesn’t appear to be one of the bigger ones at first glance.

That said, Patriots insider Tom Curran of NBC Sports Boston broke down how the team needs to move on from running back Rhamondre Stevenson.

The position is a “sneaky offseason priority,” as Curran put it. A 1,000-yard rusher in 2022, Stevenson hasn’t amounted to much in the past two seasons with 1,420 yards in that span, and his fumble problems — seven in 2024 — added concern, as Curran noted.

Stevenson signed a four-year, $36 million deal last offseason with $17 million guaranteed. He has a cap hit of $5.54 million this season, Curran wrote. “He isn’t performing up to that level.”

Unfortunately, the Patriots are in a pickle with Stevenson’s contract despite a league-best salary cap situation of $123.55 million. Patience could pay off for the Patriots if the team handles this correctly, however.

"If the Patriots released Stevenson before June 1, they’d take a $12.4 million hit in dead money against the cap. So he’s un-releasable," Curran explained. "If they wanted to trade Stevenson to a team that could actually block for him, they’d only take a $1.6 million dead money hit."

In the meantime, the Patriots could find a viable top running back in free agency or the draft.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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