Spend $11M - Priorities and Budget

mayoclinic said:

Nice breakdown from Richard Hill on the possible cuts and restructures, with a shout-out to Miguel:

Eyes on the Patriots Salary Cap - Pats Pulpit

Again, I'm not sure whether the $6M figure listed by Hill (based on Miguel's site) includes the $4M rollover or not.

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Wow, he totally ignored Scott Chandler at TE. Chandler would be a good fit here and won't be expensive. Draft 1 or 2, absolutely, but Chandler would be a veteran presence behind Gronk.

So, after further clarification, it might be useful to settle the dust.

1. Miguel currently estimates our current cap commitment at $123,639,131 ($117,955,660 salary and bonuses + $5,683,721 dead money).

2. Using a projected league-wide cap of $126.3M, Miguel currently estimates our adjusted cap at $130,977,450 (adding $570,639 total adjustments and $4,106,801 carryover from 2013 to the league-wide number). Some capologists have suggested that the league-wide cap could be as much as $2M higher.

Patriots Salary Cap Picture ? 2/4/2014 Update atriots Salary Cap

3. Using Miguel's numbers, we currently have $7,338,319 to spend. Again, that number could be as much as $2M higher depending on where the league-wide cap comes in, which we won't know for another month.

4. MgTeich has proposed using a $6M estimate for rookie salaries (as mandated by the NFL based on number of draft picks and relative position), the practice squad, and contingency funds. This may be on the high side, since there will be bottom-of-the-roster cuts that will free up some funds for future signings, but it's a reasonable start Using this estimate, we have only about $1,338,319 to spend on free agent signings (including re-signing our own FAs) before cuts and re-structurings.

5. The "cap savings if cut" numbers currently listed by Miguel include a $495K hidden bump to account for a bottom-of-the-roster player being moved onto the top 51 if a more expensive player is cut. However, that bump shouldn't be included if we are looking at signing UFAs on a 1-1 basis. Given that, the potential cap savings for cutting the following players and replacing them with FA signings would be:

- Isaac Sapoaga: $2.5M.
- Adrian Wilson: $1.166M.
- Tommy Kelly: $2.231M.
- Steve Gregory: $2.725M.
- Dan Connolly: $6M.
- Vince Wilfork: $8M.

Those 6 contracts would potentially free up $20.133M in cap space, for a total of about $21.5M available to spend on FAs in that scenario after the carry-over from #4 above is applied. Obviously, not all of the above are automatic cuts (Sapoaga and Wilson would appear to be), or anything like it, but they are potential sources of significant cap relief.

6. Extensions for Devin McCourty ($5.115M current 2014 cap hit), Stephen Gostkowski ($3.8M current 2014 cap hit) and Matt Slatter ($2.267M current 2014 cap hit) could potentially free up another $2.5-3M in cap space for this year. All 3 are in the final year of their contracts. That would potentially bump the available money to spend to somewhere around $24-24.5M.

7. For $24M or so in 2014 cap space we could potentially do something like the following:

- Sign an elite UFA such as Cleveland OC Alex Mack or S TJ Ward or Chicago DT Henry Melton (probably about a $5M 2014 cap hit on a multi-year contract with an AAV of $7-8M).
- Re-sign Aqib Talib (probably about a $5M 2014 cap hit on a multi-year contract with an AAV of about $7M).
- Sign a UFA DT like Linval Joseph or Arthur Jones or WR Julian Edelman (probably about a $4M 2014 cap hit on a multi-year contract with an AAV of around $5M).
- Re-sign RB LeGarrette Blount to a multi-year deal (roughly a $2.5M 2014 cap hit on a 3 year / $10M contract).
- Sign a lower level DT, OL or WR for a 2014 cap hit of around $2.5M.
- Sign a UFA TE like Brandon Pettigrew (probably about a $3M 2014 cap hit).
- Re-sign some lower-level players like LB Dane Fletcher, LS Danny Aiken, and possibly Will Svitek or Michael Hoomanawanui.

I'm not saying that all 6 of those players should be cut, and certainly not immediately. But there is considerable room to free up money depending on what choices the FO makes about who to bring back, and who to bring in from the outside. Cutting Sapoaga and Adrian Wilson frees up enough money to probably re-sign Julian Edelman or sign a veteran DT. Cutting an injured Wilfork who isn't certain to be able to recover would free up the cap space to probably sign a Melton/Ward/Mack plus a TE like Pettigrew. Obviously, the long-term cap implications of these possible contracts and the impact of bringing in a number of new players would have to be part of the overall calculus.

There will be some hard choices to be made about whether to "stand pat" with many current players or move in a new direction.

Extend Gregory? Y? SS is a weakness ON this team and he is the starter! Go figure the rest! He needs to be cut to free salarycap room and replaced. Resign Edelman? Again Y?? What is he going to do against Seattle in a SUPERBOWL?? Besides he is a limited slot wr! We already have guaranteed dollars to a slot!! BRADY ran for a TD on 4th and goal against Denver. Then he handed off to a rb for the 2point conversion. When does bellichick and BRADY EVER do that and take the ball out of Brady's hand?? They did it cuz they didnt trust any wr to beat coverage and catch the ball! Period. Including Edelman. He is a product of Brady AND the system thats designed to help the slot get open and catch the ball. Wilfork was already declined in 2012 season. Handled by dolphins incognito and Baltimore"S Osemele. ExtendMultiply that by his major injury and age then Squared by him being totally out of shape. ExtendIts doubted that he can contribute ANYthing at ALL much less a difference maker. ExtendHopefully he will want to retire when he realizes he cant compete at even a good level much less dominate,just the way Jonathan Ogden did. If he insists playing even after KNOWing he is subpar now, then it means he has no pride in his performance and he is out to make couple million more off his name. And that means he doesn't care bout ANYthing but $$$$!!!!!!!! It means he doesn't care for his performance,pride and doesn't care about winning or the team. When Ogden knew he couldn't play at high level any longer,he retired out of respect of himself and TEAM. It will be interesting to see if he attempts to make couple bucks off his name and tries to collect a paycheck knowing he is subpar now. ExtendEither way we should cut him and use capspace on young talent. BTW cutlist = CONNOLLY,wilson,Gregory,sopoaga and ninko depending on his salary what paycut restructure he would agree to. Restructure mankins and mayo,then see if gronk and Brady will take slight paycut restructure to be active in free agency so they can have better shot at SUPERBOWL run. ExtendCuz BRADY AND Gronk must realize we need big upgrades to have Realistic shot at Denver much less SF and Seattle.

Btw guys Justin Blackmon is only freak TALENT wr who is on rookie contract deal and wont cost over 10mil a yr. BTW we have NO Time to bring in wr talent we HOPE makes an impact! We have to bring aboard an elite talent like Justin Blackmon NOW!! Tom Brady is getting old for a qb and we have NO Time for maybe hopefuls. We must put talent around Brady while we HAVE the luxury of a GREAT qb. Once he declines we may not have a qb that gives us chance of a top offense much less a SUPERBOWL. We have 2 yrs perhaps to take advantage of having. Or else he retires. ExtendSo Blackmon once he gets focused under Brady and bellichick and is coached up on craft the guy is going to be unstoppable,and have rippling effect on this offense and make it unstoppable. Blackmon has more raw speed and pass catching TALENT than demayius thomas and takes our offense past Denver's. Justin Blackmon is more complete WR than randy moss. ExtendFast AND physical! Then we bring in a mauler on oline to replace Connolly and wendall. ExtendThe physicality will be contagious and can take the fight to physical defenses. So im saying it takes 2 players if done right to complete our offense and make a 99 rams offense type of leap if we di it right and bring in proper players and be done with our upgrades rather than TRYING DOZENS OF OVER THE HILL AND SUBPAR HOPEFULS! Then they could focus on upgrading the defense however they want. As long as they cut the fat and restructure we have salary space to do anything they want!! But we need radical upgrades over Edelmans and Gregorys if we want to have a chance at sf or Seattle

Disregard all the extends in front of a sentence. My voice command is spitting that word wherever it wants. My apologies

Looking at some of the comments, if people are suggesting cutting Mankins or Wilfork, who would replace them and at what cost (cost vs talent)? Wouldn't it be better to extend out and lower their cap # yet guaranteeing some money as an incentive.


Not a huge fan of McCourty.. He's average at his new position but I'm willing to stick with him because he's still learning it.. but I don't want to pay him to learn the position

Let Julian go.. We made that decision last year when we signed the gimp (Danny A) to a 6 million dollar contract.. Be beneficial to firm up the TE position, either via draft or FA..
Big question how does Brady and BB view the rookies..

I'd like to see us go after a J. Allen or Peppers (if released).. These guys are at the end of their careers and might be able to be had for half of what another team might pay. We need guys who can get to the QB and a lot of them.. We should see another step forward with Jones but Niko, is a role player.. He's not a game changer in the playoffs, something we've seen year in year out with him.. Time to rotate him a little more.. He has the talent to play at all front 7 positions on passing downs.

lastly, i would have signed Aquib but another year another injury.. While he's been fantastic, I would address the lines first, money left over.. keep him.. He's not a top priority

50-yard-line said:

Well, I think the odds of Wilfork coming back to form are pretty slim...

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Of course none of us know the answer to this. Much depends on what Belichick thinks about Wilfork's capabilities and salary value - including what Wilfork thinks of his own value and his own drive for a championship.

I'd say everything in this offseason very much hinges on how Belichick and Wilfork approach his ability and expense. If he's on track to return to form, I could see Wilfork agreeing to restructure.

There is no doubt in my mind Wilfork is driven by a desire for another championship.

There is also no doubt in my mind that the Patriots couldn't stop the run once Wilfork was lost for the season - so if he can come back healthy and cheaper, that would be a huge asset right there.

Beyond that, as I've seen numerous times over the 30 seasons or so I've followed the Pats, there's a dozen ways to create the cap space to keep guys and add the guys Belichick wants (within reason - difficult decisions always need to be made)

Ultimately there's no doubt in my mind that Belichick will do his best to put the best team on the field with the money and cap space at his disposal.

None of us will agree with every move as each season involves various gambles, but if key injured players can return and stay healthy, I'm confident Belichick and Brady will give us another season as a Super Bowl contender.

I really like your ideas especially your honesty and acceptance of wilforks decline.. i can't justify paying Blount when we HAVE so many rbs. Ridley and Bolden run with same power as Blount. Only reason Blount had ANY carries is due to couple fumbles. Why spend 10 mil on a rb when we have so many of them and rbs come a dime a dozen. As with Edelman,why keep him he is very mediocre and limited! The 7million they would sponge up in 2014 capspace alone could pay a Eric Wood or some other probowl olineman or elite passrusher. Edelmans production COULD easily be duplicated by a Sammy stroughter. His numbers are propped by Brady and our slot position. Edelman is just another wr propped by Brady whom if he left we would NEVER hear his name again. What is it? People see a little production and a player becomes a sentimental favorite who fans THINK the team would crumble to a winless season without. Ask yourself would gou prefer an elite passrusher or center or father keep Edelman and a fifth rb in blount. I live in federal hill Baltimore and peeps around felt like losing derrick mason was losing calvin Johnson. LOL the sports jocks on THE rock stations were going nuts TRYING to pound it into fans head's that they didn't need Mason,that they needed a younger much bigger faster upgrade. We NEED a Justin Blackmon upgrade for Bradys prime thats left,not Edelman!!

We struggled with jets dolphins. And Bills and pulled some miracles out of a hat. If we want to win a SUPERBOWL THAT means being better than EVERYBODY!! If we are going to compete with Denver,sf and SEATTLE then we must have the very Best! We're not going to compete with the legion of boom"s with Edelman, and weak links on defense like Gregory ninko and over the hill injured vets and weak olineman not fit to protect Brady like Connolly and wendall. We may win the division but unless we the fat and retool they will get a tail kicking in the playoffs at some point. If we WANT to beat these great talented teams we got to have the best.a powerful athletic mauler added to the Oline and a fast physical phenom wr like Justin Blackmon. Like i said he will have ripple effect on the offense and he is under rookie contract. Jags are willing to part ways. Bellichick is good at helping kids grow up so why not make a move for him. We have a qb bargaining chip

SalemPats said:

We need to re-sign Edelman, who will probably go for around 5-6 million a year. Probably defer that a bit and make the contract guaranteed for a longer period.

We'll need to add a WR and perhaps add a safety (I wouldn't be so quick to cut Wilson).

How much room would we have if we cut Amendola?

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This team does not need to re-sign Edelman. He was tremendous this year, make no mistake. And I love his game, think he's terrific. But they don't need to re-sign him. Especially if he's going to command a $7 million salary.

They could very easily acquire Sidney Rice for far less than that. They could conceivably trade for Justin Blackmon. Other FA options that could work:

Jerricho Cotchery
Jacoby Jones
Emmanuel Sanders
Mario Manningham
Golden Tate
Eric Decker
Robert Meachem
Riley Cooper

I don't know what the market will be for these guys, but I'm sure they could get *one* of them for less than what Edelman will command. And they're all guys that stand a pretty good chance of being successful here. Especially if Gronk returns healthy, they add another TE, and Amendola is healthier than this past year.