Do We Dare Ask?
 

JUST WONDERING

What will Belichick and Pioli do with $12M of free agent money, now unspent. Were there really no players who could have been a one-year contracts as upgrades? or even two year contracts with high first year salaries, instead of bonuses. Will we just shake our heads as we look at the bottom three roster players, and wonder whether our SB chances would have been better with two or three additions who would have cost say $4M a year each, paid out at say $5 and $3M over two years, or even $6M and $2M?

Perhaps we will extend a couple of players, with high first year salaries to use the money this year, or maybe we will sign rookies to high first year salaries and lower bonuses. But that just shifts the money to next year. We're in reasonable shape next year.

Sure, Law could still sign with us, and we could trade. If both those happened, we might use the money, if we front-loaded contracts.

re
 

No worries.

I am positive we will spend to the cap, as we have done in the past.

If any players can be had for good value after June 1, then we can expect Piolichick to sign a few of them.

If, due to the higher salary cap, that no good players are available after June 1, then I expect the Pats to re-sign talented young players who are in the last year or last two years of their contract.

.

:ditto: :agree: and :beersign:

It's the Dead Zone between draft and TC when we argue about things like "how about a 5 TE set?" and "what numbers look tight?" Happens every year. We'll see about the conventional wisdom that the pickins will be so slim there is nothing to pick up but next year's check.

Maybe

PFnV

haven't let go yet
 

BB/SP must be positive that some real players will come available after June 1, and also in the summer cutdowns. that's a goodly mount of money patriots have. i guess the picture would become clearer after some analysis of other teams' rosters, but hey, the suspense if good for the soul.
i assume they're POSITIVE that the players who can be brought in with all thios money represent an upgrade over mcginest and chatham.
look at theo epstein and redsox. they were willing to acknowledge a huge mistake, trading mirabelli away, and had the humility to bring him back.
i hope BB/SP are still willing to acknowledge that they may have screwed the pooch with willie ray. not that it'll make any difference.
on vinatieri i'm getting more chilled out. still won't be able to watch him kick in the razor wearing a dolts uniform.

......... :) :) :) :)

First time posting here after lurking for several years...

You ask what the patriots might do about the $12mm or so left in 2006 cap money? You might recall that the Pats at their option can move something like $6mm of Seymour's 2007 bonus forward to 2006 (after sometime after the one year anniversary date of his last contract modification). I strongly suspect that the Pats are in fact planning to do this at some point in 2006 thereby giving them more 2007 cap flexibility.

The remaining money $6mm or so probably will be used to extend some of the starters that BB/SP really want to keep AFTER evaluating them again in the TC process. Branch, Koppen and Graham would be high on my list for starters.

Agreed and Samuel also but a little less. God it would rule if we could get all those guys done.

I suspect that they will keep a few extra $$ heading into the season this year. if I recall, the team was so decimated by injuries that they had run out of money to sign injury fill-ins by the end of the season in 2005.

Can we move more of Dillon's bonus money to this year? He's
on the hot seat. I expect a good year from him. But, if he doesn't
perform and Maroney looks the part. He may not be around in 07 and
wouldn't be as big a cap hit if we can move some of that money
to this year.

Trades are always possible through this stage of the off-season

In many cases players with questionable value are available relatively cheap (Andre Davis from last year for example)

Players of more significant value may be demanding trades because they've outplayed contracts and are in search of a new deal.

With $12 mil of cap space the Pats are better able to make these deals happen.

Also keep in mind that while the Pats haven't been terribly active in FA - it has been among THE busiest FA offseasons ever. So when camps begin, and any injuries happen, supply for replacement players will low, and demand will be high.

While most of the FA players available now are marginal, if the Pats are in a bidding war on any FAs chances are they can win if they want to.