The New England Patriots entered the first day of the NFL legal tampering period with a major need at the wide receiver position. They did not make any blockbuster move to address it, but instead opted to go with a familiar prospect capable of making positive contributions as a third or fourth option.
Mack Hollins joined the Patriots on a reported two-year, $8.4 million free agency contract, whose details have been reported by Aaron Wilson KPRC 2 Houston and further broken down by salary cap expert Miguel Benzan. As a look at those details shows, the pact is not exactly what it seems at first glance.
WR Mack Hollins: Contract details
2025:Base salary: $2,000,000Signing bonus: $750,000Roster bonus: $850,000Workout bonus: $150,000Incentives: $1,000,000
Salary cap hit: $3,750,000
2026:Base salary: $2,900,000Signing bonus: $750,000Roster bonus: $850,000Workout bonus: $150,000Incentives: $1,000,000
Salary cap hit: $4,650,000
Looking solely at the numbers, there are few differences between the first and second years of Hollins’ new contract: his salary takes a $900,000 spike from 2025 to 2026, but that’s about it.
The devil, as is often the case with NFL contracts, is in the details.
For starters, Hollins’ salary for the 2025 season is fully guaranteed as are his two signing bonus prorations totaling $1.5 million over the two years. The 2026 portion of the salary not being guaranteed, meanwhile, makes the contract an easier one to move on from next offseason.
What makes this even clearer are the dead money and cap savings figures associated with the pact. For 2025, those stand at $3.5 million and a negative $710,000 (meaning the team would actually lose cap space in case of a release this year), respectively. In 2026, on the other hand, the dead money number drops to only $750,000 relative to gross savings of $3.9 million.
That difference in savings is why Hollins’ two-year deal is more of a one-year contract that will give the 31-year-old an opportunity to earn himself a second year in the system as well. If unable to do so, the Patriots will be able to move on without much of a financial penalty.
