Patriots WR Mack Hollins Reworked Incentives To Avoid Being Released

Patriots WR Mack Hollins reworked his incentives before the season to make them harder to reach and to avoid being released by the Patriots, per Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald. 

“Nobody wants to change anything, but that’s sometimes what happens,” Hollins said. “Makes you want to come out and work, but not any harder than I already work…that’s an unfortunate side of the business, but I’m happy to be here.”

Hollins could have made an extra $300,000 for 30 receptions, another $300,000 for 40 receptions and $400,000 for 50 receptions, up to $1 million in total. Instead, those milestones were changed to 47 receptions, 50 receptions and 55 receptions.

In addition to being higher and harder to reach, those incentives also became classified as “not likely to be earned” since Hollins had 46 catches in 2025. NLTBE incentives don’t count against the salary cap. 

Hollins told Kyed the Patriots didn’t explicitly tell him they would release him if he didn’t agree to the reworked contract, but the 10-year veteran has been around long enough to know how the business side of the NFL works. 

“That’s kind of how it works. That’s the risk that you run. It’s like, ‘Hey, you could take this offer, or we could potentially cut you.’ They’re not saying, like — that’s the business,” Hollins said. “So, it could go either way. Like, I’m happy to be here. My goal is to go hit all those incentives. It doesn’t matter whatever you put them at. I’m gonna go try to hit them, and it’ll be water under the bridge.”

Had Hollins not been on the Week 1 roster, his salary for the whole year wouldn’t have been guaranteed, either. He’s due a base salary of $2.9 million and up to $850,000 in per-game roster bonuses. 

It’s clear Hollins just wanted to ensure he stayed in New England, as Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reports Hollins generated trade interest from one team. New England rebuffed that trade interest but was evidently just fine squeezing him for $1 million in cap space. 

Last year, the Patriots paid out $400,000 to Hollins for his 50-catch incentive despite him falling four catches short after lacerating his spleen and missing the final two games. Hollins pushed hard to return and was able to play in the AFC title game and Super Bowl. 

In addition to being one of the team leaders on offense, Hollins is a key special teamer and is set to play an expanded role with the injury to WR A.J. Brown. 

Hollins, 33, is a former fourth-round pick of the Eagles back in 2017 out of North Carolina. He was in the third year of his four-year, $3.03 million contract when the Dolphins claimed him off waivers from the Eagles. 

Hollins was testing the open market as an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his NFL career when he agreed to a one-year deal with the Dolphins. Since then, he’s had one-year pacts with the Raiders, Falcons, and the Bills. 

The Patriots signed Hollins to a two-year, $8.4 million contract ahead of the 2025 season. 

In 2026, Hollins has appeared in one game for the Patriots and caught four passes on five targets for 51 yards and no touchdowns.