Every NFL offseason brings surprising cuts around the league as teams look to open up cap space to fill out their rosters. The New England Patriots are in an enviable spot with their cap situation relative to most other teams entering the offseason. They're currently set to have the sixth-most cap space in the league entering the offseason, currently projecting to have $34 million in cap space, per @PatsCap on Twitter, so they don't necessarily need to create more.

However, having cap space in the NFL can be a bit of a double-edged sword. For most of the teams that are toward the top in available cap space, it likely means that they don't have many players on their roster they view as good enough to extend. That was certainly the case for the Patriots in 2021, when they spent a record $163 million in guaranteed money on free agents.

Well, many of those players the Patriots signed in 2021 either don't have much in guaranteed money left coming their way or are set to become free agents this offseason. The only players who don't fit those categories are Matthew Judon, who signed the richest contract on the Patriots that offseason, and Jonnu Smith, who restructured his deal in August and makes it tough for New England to move on from him because cutting him would leave over $19 million in dead money.

The Patriots could save over $10 million by cutting Hunter Henry. But the tight end might be more valuable than ever even after having one of the worst seasons of his career due to Bill O'Brien being their offensive coordinator. New England could save $8 million if it cut Trent Brown, though that doesn't seem likely considering it would leave the team with no starting-caliber offensive tackles entering the offseason.

But there is one notable player they signed from the 2021 offseason who fits the mold to be a cut candidate.

Patriots surprise roster cut: WR Kendrick Bourne

Now, if you followed the Patriots this season, you might say, “Bourne isn't really much of a surprise roster cut considering his lack of playing time this past season.”

That's fair to point out. It should be noted, though, that the already unimpressive Patriots receiving corps doesn't have much under contract for next offseason. Both Jakobi Meyers and Nelson Agholor are set to become free agents, leaving Bourne, DeVante Parker and Tyquan Thornton as the only receivers who played last season on their active roster.

Meyers has been viewed as the top receiver set to hit free agency this offseason. If teams view him similarly, that likely means a big payday is coming his way as Christian Kirk received a four-year, $72 million deal from the Jacksonville Jaguars last offseason, which was the richest deal signed by a wide receiver on the open market in 2022.

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If the Patriots want to keep Meyers, they might need to clear some more cap space considering they have holes at a few other positions other than wide receiver. So, New England could budget itself on a certain amount of money it wants to spend at receiver.

Cutting Bourne to help sign Meyers could help achieve that. If the Patriots released Bourne, they would open up nearly $5.5 million in cap space and carry just a $1.4 million cap hit. New England could actually save even more money if it cut Parker instead of Bourne. The Patriots would create $6.2 million in cap space if they cut Parker and wouldn't accrue any dead money. But they traded a third-round pick for Parker last offseason, and he essentially became the Agholor replacement a year early.

So, that leaves Bourne as a top candidate to be on the outside looking in. If the Patriots want to revamp their receiver room, they're going to have to make some tough changes and decisions. Bourne certainly brought solid play in 2021, recording a career-high 55 receptions for 800 yards and five touchdowns that season.

Bourne's second year in New England was filled with drama, though, as he was reportedly in the doghouse at the start of the regular season for a pair of things that happened during training camp and the preseason. The fact that Mac Jones, who has stated that Bourne is one of his best friends on the roster, struggled as Bourne's snap count decreased certainly showed the receiver's value to the team, proving it even more in Week 16 when he had six receptions for 100 yards in the Patriots' loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

But changes have to be made at receiver, and Bourne just isn't the kind of talent teams have to specifically game plan for each week. If you look at all 14 teams that made the playoffs in 2022, 11 of them had a receiver or tight end named a Pro Bowler or an All-Pro in the last three seasons. The Patriots cutting Bourne would help free up money and a spot in the receiver room to help them possibly get that kind of guy and/or possibly re-sign Meyers.