Who could be a salary cap casualty for Patriots this offseason?

Guaranteeing an NFL-record $163 million in free agency last offseason helped the New England Patriots return to the postseason following a one-year layoff.

But the Patriots failed to win a postseason game for the third season in a row, matching their longest stretch under Bill Belichick (2008-10). They can't just sit back idly this offseason, but a similar splurge in free agency is seemingly out of the question.

As of Saturday, New England has $8,329,412 in cap space, per OverTheCap.com. What are some avenues Bill Belichick and Co. can take to create some more?

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Pro Football Focus listed its top cut candidates for all 32 NFL teams on Friday; for the Patriots, it deemed defensive lineman Henry Anderson as expendable.

"Anderson was a Jets cap casualty but quickly latched on with the Patriots," PFF wrote. "Unfortunately, just 35 snaps into the season, Anderson was lost for the year with a torn pectoral injury. New England remains loaded up front, and Anderson may be cap casualty for the second offseason in a row."Cutting Anderson, 30, would create $2,676,468 in cap space for New England. The move would seem to make sense, as the former Colts and Jets lineman appeared in only 13 percent of the team's defensive snaps before his injury and was a non-factor on the field with only three tackles and no sacks.

But who else could they move on from to save even more money and perhaps make a minor splash in free agency? Here are a few other candidates for the Patriots to move on from.

One quick note: Forget about cutting Jonnu Smith. His first year was a tremendous disappointment with only 28 catches and one touchdown, but releasing him would cost the team about $12.8 in dead money; next offseason, the Patriots could save $1 million by cutting Smith at his current cap number. Run it back for now.

You'll notice a trend with the first three players: They were New England's first three selections in the 2019 NFL Draft.

N'Keal Harry

There is a very slim chance the Patriots pick up the receiver's fifth-year option by the May 2 deadline, so why not rip the band-aid off a year early? Cutting Harry would only save the team about $1.2 million, but after he caught 12 passes in as many games last year, it's clearly time to move on.

Joejuan Williams

The latest in a long line of second-round defensive back disappointments, cutting Williams would save the team nearly $1.4 million. Williams' increased playing time in 2021 was out of necessity, and he didn't do nearly enough with the opportunity to prove he's part of the future.

Chase Winovich

After recording 5.5 sacks in each of his first two seasons, Winovich fell off the face of the earth for the majority of the 2021 season, playing in a career-low 13 percent of New England's defensive snaps. Cutting him would only save $965,000, but like everyone else from the 2019 draft not named Damien Harris or Jake Bailey, it's just not working out.

There are some other older players for the Patriots to consider releasing where the savings could be more worth it than with players still on their rookie deals.

Kyle Van Noy

Van Noy played fine in his first year back in New England with five sacks and his first career pick-six, but he -- like many other players on the defense -- began to fade down the stretch, not too dissimilar to what transpired in 2019, the end of Van Noy's first stint in Foxboro. He'll be 31 next month and by moving on, the Patriots could save just under $5 million in cap space at a position where the need to get younger has been an issue for at least two years now.

Shaq Mason

Cutting Mason would almost strictly be a move the Patriots make if they were hard pressed against the salary cap, as he remains a productive player on the interior of the offensive line. The team could save more than $7 million in releasing Mason -- he has no guaranteed money left on a five-year extension he signed in 2018 -- and New England could, in theory, slot in Michael Onwenu to fill the void.

But amid all of the turmoil on the Patriots' offensive coaching staff, including at O-line, releasing one of your steadier players to save a buck would seem ill-advised. Mason doesn't turn 29 until August, either. Considering his value, it's more likely the team would try to trade him than release him outright.

Lawrence Guy

By designating Guy as a post-June 1 cut, the Patriots could save $4.25 million against the cap, and he has no guaranteed money left on his deal. But like Mason, Guy has been as steady as it gets for New England on the other side of the line of scrimmage; he's played in 79 of 81 games since signing with the Patriots prior to the 2017 season. The only difference with Guy is that he'll be 32 next month. Still, the Patriots could use Guy, Mason and Van Noy as trade chips if they want to get their contracts off the books.