Logan Mankins Traded

Was initially shocked by this trade, but having waited a bit to marinate on it before posting……… the more I see it as shear brilliance and mastery on BB's behalf. Cue Mankins steep decline in the next year or two (see Seymour et all). Will Wright be finally be that productive 2nd TE to compliment Gronk that doesn't moonlight as a serial killer? Remains to be seen, but the potential upside to him is pretty big.

At the same time, the upside on Mankins (love him as we may), at his current bloated salary, is not very great. We have to dump some $$ on the offensive side of the ball to continue to upgrade the D long term. Best to do it with a "replaceable" trench player like Mankins then somewhere else, so long as it means DMac or Revis (preferably both) get extended.

Miguel said:

Have Pats with 13,118,604 in cap space after today's moves.

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That much?

All right, I'm decided.

Bill must want that money for something other than extending McCourty and Revis next year.

So unless there is some advantage that I am unaware of to doing these extensions now or sooner, I think we've got one more big trade incoming this year.

Miguel said:

Fixed it. Added the - to the front of the $42,000,000. Sorry about the confusion.

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No problemo, I just figured it was a formatting issue. Can't imagine there are too many negative 8 digit figures in those boxes too often... The glaring red color and the $5m below it being negative tipped me off otherwise.

Woo hoo, I got a "Winner" medal from Miguel! I am proud of this accomplishment. Gonna print it and put it on my fridge. Cue the look of confusion from the wife...

As expected:

Phil Perry‏@PhilAPerry2m
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Per @JasonPhilCole, Patriots asked Mankins to take pay cut before trade. He refused initial request after Pro Bowl last season.

@Miguel what is the maximum amount of remaining money that can be rolled over to next year and added to the cap? Is the limit set or is it unknown until the cap is announced?

I see this but it doesn't mention the maximum amount, if there is one:

• December 27 -- Prior to 4:00 p.m., New York time, clubs must provide the Management Council with written notice, signed by the individual club�s owner, indicating the amount, if any, of the club�s 2014 league year salary cap room to be credited to the club�s 2015 team salary.

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strngplyr said:

@Miguel what is the maximum amount of remaining money that can be rolled over to next year and added to the cap? Is the limit set or is it unknown until the cap is announced?

I see this but it doesn't mention the maximum amount, if there is one:

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There is no maximum.

unoriginal said:

Personally I would shocked if the Pats went interior OL in the 1st round next draft. There would have to be a real dumpster fire at the position this year for that to occur. The Pats have carried or drafted like six first-year players the last year - Stork, Halapio, Barker, Cave, Devey, Kline - and even if absolutely everybody craps out the Pats have demonstrated the ability to find Nick McDonaldses and Donald Thomases on the street mid-season and turn them into effective players on the inside.

Plus we have two more tackles - Cannon and Fleming - people here just will not stop projecting at guard, not without some reason.

Penciling in a 1st round OG would be like penciling in a 1st round WR at this time last year.

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Honestly without being an eagle eyed observer i would not be surprised if Flemming is looking solid for the RG/RT spot next year. When i saw him in pre season he has looked solid protecting for Jimmy G

strngplyr said:

@Miguel what is the maximum amount of remaining money that can be rolled over to next year and added to the cap? Is the limit set or is it unknown until the cap is announced?

I see this but it doesn't mention the maximum amount, if there is one:

Click to expand...

Miguel said:

There is no maximum.

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Can I assume the maximum carryover would for all practical purposes be 11% of the salary cap?

(Minimum Team Cash Spending Requirement of 89%)

Or $14,630,000

jsull87 said:

Honestly without being an eagle eyed observer i would not be surprised if Flemming is looking solid for the RG/RT spot next year. When i saw him in pre season he has looked solid protecting for Jimmy G

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I was impressed with his run blocking, he seemed to be getting good movement whenever I focused in, but like you I haven't really sat down and graded it.

Danger Zone said:

Can I assume the maximum carryover would for all practical purposes be 11% of the salary cap?

(Minimum Team Cash Spending Requirement of 89%)

Or $14,630,000

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Well, as I understand it right now, the floor is in place over the course of multiple seasons at the moment, so as long as 89% of the cap has been spent for the course of those seasons there will be no penalty making there indeed no limit for right now, as long as the requirement is meant in time.

Tim Wright will be a great weapon for Brady on offense. Kid is good, young and cheap and will fill the hole left by Hernandez and provide insurance for Gronk.

Mankins on the other hand always did his best turnstile impression whenever we played a quality defensive line. He's old, declining and expensive.

Pure Belichick brilliance as usual. Getting rid of someone a year early rather than a year late. Belichick has always had great success getting OL on the cheap. He drafted three this year, I am guessing they are working out even better than expected.

Oh and he got another draft pick.

Danger Zone said:

That much?

All right, I'm decided.

Bill must want that money for something other than extending McCourty and Revis next year.

So unless there is some advantage that I am unaware of to doing these extensions now or sooner, I think we've got one more big trade incoming this year.

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You could be right, DZ--although I'm not sure where I'd project that position to be. Personally, I'm expecting another pickup or two from Saturday's roster cuts myself. Two may be pushing it, but one could be reasonable.

With Solder, McCourty, Revis, Ridley, Vereen, Hightower, Chandler Jones, etc all coming up for extensions (or more appropriately--decisions), I wouldn't be surprised if this was just made to help free up some space to carry over and stay on top of things.

Either that, or Belichick just didn't feel that Mankins' salary was providing value any longer. We may be looking at the old "year too early" scenario here. Just guessing of course.

strngplyr said:

Well, as I understand it right now, the floor is in place over the course of multiple seasons at the moment, so as long as 89% of the cap has been spent for the course of those seasons there will be no penalty making there indeed no limit for right now, as long as the requirement is meant in time.

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Right. That is what is allowing some teams like Tampa, Cleveland, etc to have 40-50 million dollars worth of space like this past spring.

I imagine some of them will still continue to be in pretty good positions moving forward as well. EDIT: Of course that "floor" will not be spread out over multiple years for long, right?

supafly said:

With Solder, McCourty, Revis, Ridley, Vereen, Hightower, Chandler Jones, etc all coming up for extensions (or more appropriately--decisions), I wouldn't be surprised if this was just made to help free up some space to carry over and stay on top of things.

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An acceptable and superbly grounded theory... just not nearly as fun or anywhere near as immediately gratifying as my own.

Danger Zone said:

An acceptable and superbly grounded theory... just not nearly as fun or anywhere near as immediately gratifying as my own.

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I'm not meaning to rain on any parades. I'm just guessing, of course.

You may end up being correct.

I'm not shocked at all with trading Mankins. Some of these posts i've read is what I was thinking. Factor in his Giving Up Sacks, Holdin Out and if it's true he refused to take a pay cut plus this Freein Up Siginificant Cap Space well that's just a dose of BB makin a move now rather than later.

As for Tim Wright, kid has major potential. His numbers in such a short time( look who was throwin to him) have been really impressive. I know some were droolin over Sudfeld but Wright looks like real deal. TE Position needed to be addressed with or without Gronk so it'll be interesting to see how he is used.

Danger Zone said:

An acceptable and superbly grounded theory... just not nearly as fun or anywhere near as immediately gratifying as my own.

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Yeah, definitely not as fun, but with how it stands, extending McCourty or Revis nearly qualify as free agent pick ups because neither will be playing for us next season without contract movement.

This move makes me about 95% sure that both will be playing here for the 2015 season. Solder and Jones are not as pressing though will make big $$.

Hightower, barring a breakout and much more than we've seen to date, shouldn't command more than average salary, if the team even decides they want him, and the RB's, as much as I love Ridley and think Vereen has a hard to replicate skillset, are so far proving to be anything but reliable as long term solutions between Ridley benching himself and Vereen struggling to even stay on the field.

I would append that the fact that the Bucs employed Wright as a Flex End doesn't make him a Flex End, any more than Vince Wilfork is a Defensive End just because we occasionally deploy'm there.

Tim Wright, unless he's beefed up considerably from his College 6030/219, is a Split End.

I expect that we'll deploy'm in the Slot a lot, as the Bucs did, but asking'm to take on the Blocking Duties of a Flex End would be an huge Mistake, as the former Bucs Coaches could tell you!!

Belichick - Revis contract negotiations

Bill Belichick: How much is gonna take?
Darrelle Revis: There is no home town discount, homey.
Steve Belichick: Don't worry Dad, I just traded Mankins for another former Rutgers player.

Off The Grid said:

I would append that the fact that the Bucs employed Wright as a Flex End doesn't make him a Flex End, any more than Vince Wilfork is a Defensive End just because we once deployed him there.

Tim Wright, unless he's beefed up considerably from his College 6030/219, is a Split End.

I expect that we'll deploy'm in the Slot a lot, as the Bucs did, but asking'm to take on the Blocking Duties of a Flex End would be an huge Mistake, as the former Bucs Coaches could tell you!!

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Yeah, the word is that the current coaches down there were trying to use him in the slot a lot more this summer.