Howe: Cap room is mainly gone

[Jimke]

If Howe is correct, the time has come to re-structure Mankins and Mayo to get more cap space.

It may also be time to re-sign Edleman, Branch, and Stallworth (if not
seriously injured) to add some experienced wide receivers for Brady.

It might also be time to do something very radical like sign Randy Moss.
Moss can go down field 8 yards, catch the ball, and fall down like Lloyd.

 

[DaBruinz]

If Howe is correct, the time has come to re-structure Mankins and Mayo to get more cap space.

Howe isn't even remotely correct.

It may also be time to re-sign Edleman, Branch, and Stallworth (if not seriously injured) to add some experienced wide receivers for Brady.

It might also be time to do something very radical like sign Randy Moss.
Moss can go down field 8 yards, catch the ball, and fall down like Lloyd.

Amendola and Jones are both "experienced" receivers in that they both have been in the league at least 2 years.. Amendola for 4 and Jones for 3.

 

[Rob0729]

This why writers shouldn't write about the cap. It is one thing to listen to Felger spout off about the "cap is crap" stuff because it is a radio talk show and facts have never been a requirement for a radio show host's rants. But a writer needs to have his/her facts correct and clearly Howe does not.

Besides, guessing the cap number right now is silly. We have no idea what the Pats' gave Wilson and we have no idea how Arrington's contract is structured. At this point the best guess would be on Koutuvides' which is likely to be for the veteran minimum.

 

[Brady2Moss]

The Craft is Crap! Wait something seems wrong.

 

[Jimke]

Howe isn't even remotely correct.



Amendola and Jones are both "experienced" receivers in that they both have been in the league at least 2 years.. Amendola for 4 and Jones for 3.

What I meant was experienced with Brady. We have had quite a few
WRs who could never catch on with him or the system.

 

[The_Riddler]

Mankins should have been the first one we demanded a restructure from.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Mankins should have been the first one we demanded a restructure from.

That can still happen but only if need be as a restructure has future cap impact

 

[DaBruinz]

What I meant was experienced with Brady. We have had quite a few
WRs who could never catch on with him or the system.

What you said and what you meant were two different things...But you knew that already.

 

[Patsrock]

If Howe is correct, the time has come to re-structure Mankins and Mayo to get more cap space.

Why would you restructure Mayo this year? Cap hit is 5.6 million(w/3.6 million SB).

 

[Deus Irae]

Mankins should have been the first one we demanded a restructure from.

Cutting Mankins, which is the only threat the Patriots can use in this situation, would cost the team $2.5m in extra cap, so Mankins is in the catbird seat here. I'm not sure that "Logan, can we please, pretty please, restructure your contract?" is really a demand.

Next year is the first year that the Patriots can cut Mankins for a net positive cap move. Restructuring him now would likely push that possibility off for at least another year, because Mankins doesn't need to take an actual dollar loss at this point.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

I think Pats could restructure Logan and gain cap space. Guarantee him more now and amortize forward. That would be a last resort for reasons mentioned previously.

 

[BradyFTW!]

I usually like Jeff Howe's stuff, but he definitely dropped the ball on this one.

 

[Fixit]

How much did craft pay for this pro Patriot spin? They won't be addressing anymore needs while hiding behind the cap.

I put this in Google Translate and it said, "NO."

 

[Rob0729]

Cutting Mankins, which is the only threat the Patriots can use in this situation, would cost the team $2.5m in extra cap, so Mankins is in the catbird seat here. I'm not sure that "Logan, can we please, pretty please, restructure your contract?" is really a demand.

Next year is the first year that the Patriots can cut Mankins for a net positive cap move. Restructuring him now would likely push that possibility off for at least another year, because Mankins doesn't need to take an actual dollar loss at this point.

95% of the time (well prior to this offseason) when a player restructures their contract, it means converting salary to bonus. What leverage do the Pats need to convince Mankins to take most of his base salary in one lump sum right now than in increments over the course of the season?

 

[supafly]

I usually like Jeff Howe's stuff, but he definitely dropped the ball on this one.

Where he dropped the ball was the whole article idea and title about the room being mainly gone etc. What's the point? There are many, many other teams with less cap room than NE and they're still making plays in FA.

His numbers are off, but they're probably only off by a couple/few million, so I don't blame him as much there. I think he should've just held off on the article altogether though.

 

[tonyto3690]

The Patriots have roughly 8-10million in cap remaining depending if you believe Abraham is/is going to sign. 3-4 has to be used for draft picks and you need to save 2 million for emergency mid-season signings.

People expecting multiple big name guys to be signed still are kidding themselves. I'd be surprised if we signed Vollmer, let alone Vollmer + Dumervil + some other guys.

Right now we're just going to end up signing some depth pieces at CB, S, DE, OL and that's about it.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

gone? Did we sign mike wallace?

 

[JackBauer]

The Patriots have roughly 8-10million in cap remaining depending if you believe Abraham is/is going to sign. 3-4 has to be used for draft picks and you need to save 2 million for emergency mid-season signings.

People expecting multiple big name guys to be signed still are kidding themselves. I'd be surprised if we signed Vollmer, let alone Vollmer + Dumervil + some other guys.

Right now we're just going to end up signing some depth pieces at CB, S, DE, OL and that's about it.

I'd say the S depth chart is full up.

 

[eom]

Where he dropped the ball was the whole article idea and title about the room being mainly gone etc. What's the point? There are many, many other teams with less cap room than NE and they're still making plays in FA.

His numbers are off, but they're probably only off by a couple/few million, so I don't blame him as much there. I think he should've just held off on the article altogether though.

they probably have 3x the money he portrays them to have ---- it's not almost gone.

if you are going to write an article, why just make numbers up to do it?
if you aren't aware of the actual numbers, don't bother writing an article filling people in on the numbers

 

[KingChre]

they probably have 3x the money he portrays them to have ---- it's not almost gone.

if you are going to write an article, why just make numbers up to do it?
if you aren't aware of the actual numbers, don't bother writing an article filling people in on the numbers

Not sure if its going to be 3x as much, but your general point is dead on. My issue with the article is its purpose appears to be informing the reader about their cap room, and he makes a bunch of lazy guesses at it, rather than doing an extra bit of research to be accurate. Therefore nullifying any informative effect it may have had. It would be different if he casually mentioned their remaining cap space (or a rough estimate of what he thought it was) in a notes column or something, but clearly that wasn't the case here.

Either way, its not really that big of a deal obviously, but its that type of sluggish journalism that gets everybody riled up around here, and its a pet peeve of mine.