The Patriots must reload.

Fortunately, the Patriots, who finished last season 4-13 and haven’t won a playoff game in five years, are flush with salary cap space with NFL free agency beginning next week.

With over $100 million, the Patriots have the most cap room in the league and need to start spending cash to hit the league’s spending floor. The NFL’s open tampering period begins Monday at noon ET, when teams are permitted to contact and enter into contract negotiations with the certified agents of players who will become unrestricted free agents. The new league year officially begins Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET, when teams are able to execute a new contract with free agents.

After parting ways with Bill Belichick this offseason, they have new leadership in head coach Jerod Mayo and director of scouting — and de facto general manager — Eliot Wolf, who brought on an almost entirely new staff on offense and a supplemented defensive staff.

The team hit rock bottom in 2023 and now has needs across a mostly barren roster. To preview free agency, the Herald is publishing daily stories with free agents at key positions of need.

Quarterback

The Patriots have three quarterbacks under contract in Mac Jones, Bailey Zappe and Nathan Rourke, but there’s no guarantee that any of those three players will actually be on the team’s Week 1 roster.

Sources: Patriots like Baker Mayfield, haven’t shown interest in Kirk Cousins

Jones is a trade candidate after struggling for two straight seasons, it took Zappe, who was cut out of training camp, 13 weeks to pass Jones on the quarterback depth chart for good reason, and Rourke, a CFL product, is still mostly an unknown commodity in the NFL.

The Patriots will most likely find their future quarterback in the 2024 NFL Draft, where they hold the No. 3 overall pick, but there are starting options set to hit the open market, where Wolf could also find a bridge quarterback to give a rookie time to develop.

Finding an option who knows new offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt would be beneficial since the Patriots will be installing a new system. The fewer players it’s unfamiliar to, the better.

Baker Mayfield

Members of the Patriots’ staff like Mayfield and would want him starting in 2024. That much we know.

What we don’t know is if the feeling is mutual.

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Mayfield is likely going to cash in this offseason, and the most likely scenario is that he’s going back to the Buccaneers, who just re-signed wide receiver Mike Evans. The All-Pro wide receiver, whom the Patriots had interest in, liked playing with Mayfield in 2023.

The connections to Mayfield on the Patriots’ staff are vast. He was drafted by a staff that included Wolf and senior personnel executive Alonzo Highsmith and was coached by offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt on a coaching staff that also included quarterbacks coach T.C. McCartney and offensive line coach Scott Peters. Mayfield also spent time with the Panthers on a staff that had senior personnel advisor Pat Stewart and senior offensive assistant Ben McAdoo.

It’s easy to envision Mayfield garnering $30 million-plus per year as a free agent this offseason. He had a great season in 2023 but had struggled in 2021 and 2022. His best NFL season came in 2020 under Van Pelt in Cleveland.

If the Patriots signed Mayfield, it would allow them to either take a wide receiver or offensive tackle at No. 3 overall or trade down to accumulate more valuable draft capital. And the Patriots do have plenty of salary cap space and cash to throw around.

But does Mayfield want to come to New England, and if so at what cost?

Jacoby Brissett

Another connection to Van Pelt, Brissett played under the Patriots’ OC in 2022 with the Browns. The journeyman QB was selected by the Patriots in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft and spent one year in New England before being traded to the Colts.

Brissett would be a solid bridge if a rookie quarterback needed one before starting. He also could serve as a dependable backup if a rookie is ready to start Week 1.

Ideally, Brissett would not enter the spring as the Patriots’ uncontested starting QB. He’s 18-30 as a starter over eight seasons with 10,574 yards, 51 touchdowns, 23 interceptions and an 85.3 passer rating.

Joe Flacco

Flacco was surprisingly effective as the Browns’ starting quarterback under Van Pelt over the final five weeks of the regular season, leading Cleveland to the wild card round of the playoffs.

His performance earned him Comeback Player of the Year honors as he threw for 1,616 yards with 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions with a 4-1 record. Flacco hadn’t started more than four games since 2019 and hadn’t led his team to a starting record since 2017.

The Super Bowl XLVII MVP, like Brissett, could serve as a bridge starter or solid backup to pair with a rookie QB. He brings a lower floor than Brissett or Mayfield but should come cheaper than both options.