Rapoport/SMY/Reiss Tweet: "Mankins will be a Patriot for life" - Page 4 - New England Patriots Forums

fester · 08-10-2011, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bostonian1962

His $10M cap hit this year gets smaller, and cap space is opened up.........I think.

Would the Patriots really want to open up too much cap space with the speculated long-term Mankins deal?

Right now he has a cap hit of $10 million. The Pats are slightly under the cap using TOP-51 accounting, and probably real close to the cap with Top-53 + practice squad if the season started tonight. The Pats will most likely drop a couple of million bucks in cap obligations with the roster cut-downs to get to 53.

If the Patriots are relatively satisfied with their roster as it is constituted on the day that Mankins signs his contract, then the incentive would probably be to keep future years as cap-flexible as possible by minimizing the signing bonus.

For instance, a 6 year contract with a $15 million dollar signing bonus, a $6.5 million roster bonus and a $1 million dollar salary in 2011 has a 10 million dollar cap charge while it delivers $22.5 million into Mankin's bank-account. Doing the deal that way only leaves a $2.5 million per year pro-rated signing bonus while doing a $21.5 million dollar signing bonus and a million dollar base salary for 2011 gives Mankins a cap hit of $4.7 million this year, but annual $3.7 million dollar prorations.

Assuming Mankins continues to play the way that he has played, worrying about pro-rations of the signing bonus is a non-issue for at least another three years (2014 season), but this strategy of a decent sized roster bonus and no significant reduction in his cap hit buys future flexibility. And if Mankins gets hit by a bus, the cap cost of dealing with that scenario is les even though the cash cost is the same.

boston22407 · 08-10-2011, 02:21 PM

***patchick*** · 08-10-2011, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ctpatsfan77

One interesting point: I'm not saying the Patriots will or should do so, but if they feel they can afford to carry a lot of that hit this year, they may well do so, in order to reduce the cap hit in future years.

I can definitely see that -- leaving room for extensions for Mayo & Vollmer next year!

Patriot Missile · 08-10-2011, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by betterthanthealternative

Let's all just hope Mr. Cannon has a complete and sustained recovery, and that Mr. Solder continues to become what he's seems to be becoming.

Nothing to do with hope. Dante Scarnecchia entering his 28th season in New England is the best in the business. His track record with early round picks suggests Solder will be solid and Cannon "who should of been a 2nd rounder" will be good also.

Cannons prognosis looks good so far. I'm certain everyone that knows his story regardless of the fan is pulling for the guy. Positive vibes.

PatsBoy12 · 08-10-2011, 02:24 PM

I just finished reading the article. This is awesome news! I love it!

Patriot Missile · 08-10-2011, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by patchick

I can definitely see that -- leaving room for extensions for Mayo & Vollmer next year!

Top of the food chain right there.

***BradyFTW!*** · 08-10-2011, 02:26 PM

Great news! Looking forward to seeing Mankins mauling guys in the middle for the foreseeable future. Up until now, I wasn't optimistic that a deal would get done (was pretty much 50/50 on it), so this is definitely welcome news. If Cannon and Solder are ready and able to play to their ability next year (admittedly a pretty big if), we could end up with the best line in the NFL. As an added bonus, we can pretty well assume that this will free up some cap space for this season.

BadMoFo · 08-10-2011, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sicilian

Um, he got signed, didn't he?

My bad. Wilfork signed nine days after Kraft said "We're close."

***BradyFTW!*** · 08-10-2011, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fester

Would the Patriots really want to open up too much cap space with the speculated long-term Mankins deal?

Right now he has a cap hit of $10 million. The Pats are slightly under the cap using TOP-51 accounting, and probably real close to the cap with Top-53 + practice squad if the season started tonight. The Pats will most likely drop a couple of million bucks in cap obligations with the roster cut-downs to get to 53.

If the Patriots are relatively satisfied with their roster as it is constituted on the day that Mankins signs his contract, then the incentive would probably be to keep future years as cap-flexible as possible by minimizing the signing bonus.

For instance, a 6 year contract with a $15 million dollar signing bonus, a $6.5 million roster bonus and a $1 million dollar salary in 2011 has a 10 million dollar cap charge while it delivers $22.5 million into Mankin's bank-account. Doing the deal that way only leaves a $2.5 million per year pro-rated signing bonus while doing a $21.5 million dollar signing bonus and a million dollar base salary for 2011 gives Mankins a cap hit of $4.7 million this year, but annual $3.7 million dollar prorations.

Assuming Mankins continues to play the way that he has played, worrying about pro-rations of the signing bonus is a non-issue for at least another three years (2014 season), but this strategy of a decent sized roster bonus and no significant reduction in his cap hit buys future flexibility. And if Mankins gets hit by a bus, the cap cost of dealing with that scenario is les even though the cash cost is the same.

The expectation around the league seems to be that the rape of cap increase will rise significantly in 2014 and beyond, due to the new TV deal. As a result, it wouldn't surprise me at all if Mankins' cap hits on a long-term deal grow significantly a couple of years out. The approach that you outlined makes a lot of sense too, though, so now we just have to wait and see.

ivanvamp · 08-10-2011, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patriot Missile

Draft a nice Center Mike Brewster next year and the transformation is complete. Rebuilt without missing a beat. How does that happen?

It can be done because of the quality of the quarterback. Every QB needs protection, but Brady is *so* good at reading defenses, moving in the pocket, getting rid of the ball quickly, etc., that it helps make the O-line's protection a little easier.