The New England Patriots decided to shake up their running back room on Monday. Antonio Gibson originally joined the team on a three-year, $11.25 million free agent contract in 2024 and was released after two seasons with the team and a total of 22 games.
The move itself wasn’t much of a surprise. Not only is Gibson just a rotation option in the Patriots’ backfield, with an uncertain future given that Lamond Stevenson and Tre’Vion Henderson are high on the depth chart, but he’s also currently recovering from a torn ACL he suffered in October.
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That said, let’s take a look at the bigger picture of what this deal means from a New England perspective.
Running back depth takes a hit
The Patriots enter the offseason with six true running backs under contract through 2026, with Gibson serving as the projected RB3 behind the aforementioned Lamondre Stevenson and Tre’Vion Henderson. Since he is no longer part of the puzzle, the layer of depth behind the top pair has been removed, making the set look like this:
Running Back (5): Lamond Stevenson (38), Treveyan Henderson (32), Terrell Jennings (26), Len Larison (34), Elijah Mitchell (45)
Defender (1): Brock Lampe(46)
In addition to those six players, the Patriots have two backfield players set to hit free agency. Running back Denerik Prince and linebacker Jake Westover are both exclusive rights free agents.
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Even if they retain Prince and Westover, the Patriots lack established depth or long-term development upside behind Stevenson and Henderson. While they project to be a formidable one-two punch, not having Gibson as a third option means the team will likely look to another player with a similarly versatile skill set.
New 2026 primary kickoff returners
Before suffering a torn ACL in Week 5 against the Buffalo Bills, Gibson not only served as the Patriots’ third running back, but was also their top kickoff receiver. As a result, he averaged 28.5 yards on 12 carries and had a 90-yard touchdown in Week 2 against Miami.
The Patriots were unable to find similar production and home run potential once Gibson was out for the year. Six more players have started for them this year — running backs Lamond Stevenson, Treveyan Henderson, Terrell Jennings and Denest Johnson, and wide receivers Kyle Williams and Efton Chism III — but none have emerged as clear featured options.
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With Gibson officially out of the game, the game will start from scratch again. According to Flash, Henderson and Williams currently appear to be the front-runners, but there are a number of factors plus future roster changes that could change that prediction.
Cap space has been created – for now?
One of the reasons Gibson’s release wasn’t a surprise is because of his contract. With a salary cap hit of $4.14 million, he is currently the team’s 21st most valuable player. That might not be a release-worthy issue in and of itself, but the structure of the deal caused the change: Only his prorated $1 million signing bonus through the 2026 season is fully guaranteed.
That $1 million will now be added to the Patriots’ dead salary cap space in 2026. At the same time, the team generated a net savings of $2.14 million: His total savings was $3.14 million, minus another player with a $1 million salary cap hit who will be included in the top 51 salary cap contracts once the new league year begins in mid-March.
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Gibson’s release leaves the Patriots $44.3 million below the projected $304.3 million league salary cap, according to salary cap expert Miguel Benzan.
However, considering Gibson was released due to a medical failure, he appears to be eligible for the NFL’s injury protection benefits. If so, and he remains unsigned for the new season, the Patriots could be hit with a $2.1 million salary cap hit when the regular season begins. In this case, the financial gain from releasing the 27-year-old would be minimal.
The Mayo era is fading away
The Patriots’ 2024 offseason is their first without Bill Belichick running the team’s football operations. So, who is the first free agent to be added under the new regime of Elliott Wolf and then-head coach Jerrold Mayo? That was Mr. Antonio Gibson.
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With Gibson gone, so too is another remnant of the Mayo-era Patriots franchise. In fact, as Eason points out, less than 14 months after he was sacked, only 23 players remained on the team that had played under the one-and-done coach. Hurwitz in Sports Illustrated.
sign of goodwill
While Gibson’s poor health could force some action, the Patriots have no real reason to release Gibson now rather than closer to the start of free agency on March 11. However, being waived now could give Gibson some sort of head start as the entire league is in Indianapolis this week for the NFL Scouting Combine.
Of course, teams will be wary of running backs four months into a torn ACL, but Gibson’s name is at least out there and he can start visiting other clubs and getting physicals immediately. Other veteran running backs who could eventually compete with him on the open market may not be in the same position yet.
