Pats' 2012 cap, free agents and potential extra cap space
 

Pats' 2012 cap, free agents and potential extra cap space
By: John Morgan

A look at where the Pats stand against the 2012 salary cap, their own free agents, and a clause in the CBA that could give them an extra $6.6 million in this year's cap....

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Re: Pats' 2012 cap, free agents and potential extra cap space
 

Are we really able to carry 6.6m forward? I was under the impression that some of Mayo's contract was applied to this years cap. Does that number have that factored in?

Re: Pats' 2012 cap, free agents and potential extra cap space
 

If the Sun-Sentinel's numbers are accurate, then that is great news for the Patriots. The only possible downside that I can see is that (a) other teams may do the same thing, negating any advantage, and (b) teams that are way below the cap that have to hit this year's salary floor could cause the asking prices for players to rise as they get in a bidding war for players.

On one hand the fact that the numbers in the newspaper articles are right down to the very last dollar makes me think that he did get access to specific salaries and cap numbers, and that those figures are accurate. On the other hand the second article also says that the Jets had an $8.3 million surplus in 2011 that they could carry forward if they want to, which ha me scratching my head. Didn't Tannenbaum just say a few weeks ago that the Jets hurt themselves by leaving themselves with no room to maneuver in regards to the cap? I'm just finding it hard to believe that they were that far under, which in turn makes me a bit skeptical about Omar Kelly's numbers.

Regardless, even if Kelly's numbers are wrong, the Pats are in relatively good shape in regards to the cap.

Re: Pats' 2012 cap, free agents and potential extra cap space
 

This carry over rule seems stupid. Does the surplus cap space expire after 1 year or does it last forever such that you can have 3-4 years significantly believe the cap then have a basically uncapped team for 1-2 years? It would require little to no skill to pull that off whereas "cap management" as we know it actually requires good scouting, drafting, and personnel decision making.

Re: Pats' 2012 cap, free agents and potential extra cap space
 

This has always been the case. The only difference under the new CBA is teams don't have to add that money back via phony LTBE incentives in late season contracts (like say a lineman having a $6.6M incentive if he has over a hundred hards in receptions...). That would count in the present year as if he made it then be credited back onto the cap when the season ends and he didn't. Now if you haven't spent it you just notify the league you would like to carry it over. Carryover will not happen to the extent it does now though once the % of cap spending per team rules kick in I believe in 2014 because teams won't be carrying forward more than a couple of million because to do so would result in them being penalized. Right now any penalty is league wide based on total league underspending.

Re: Pats' 2012 cap, free agents and potential extra cap space
 

Rather than start another roster evaluation thread, I'll just tack the links to these columns on here to this thread. They're two pretty good reads by Christopher Price on the season-ending roster, ranking the players from 1 to 53. I thought it was interesting where he placed certain players, such as Waters, BJGE, and Ninkovich.

It Is What It Is » Rating the Roster, Part 2

It Is What It Is » Rating the Roster, Part 1