Patriots salary cap

[patsfaninpa]

What's the cap estimate on Connolly for this season? $3MM? Damned where is Miguel when you need him.

OK, I'm worried that we are pretty much done. The kid who did the page that Tip left the link for mentioned all the signings but didn't include anything yet on his spread sheet. He says we have $16MM left, but I don't think they include any of the people we've signed since FA started.

So we are left with just guesses.

JMT - has Slater Gregory and White costing us $4.2MM next year
AJ - had Fanene's first year number at $2.5
PFK - I'm going to guess that Connolly's number will be about $3MM BTW-a pure guess based on nothing.

So that's almost $10MM right there. If we deduct the $5MM for draft plus a reserve, then that's pretty much the 16MM. To do anything else would require some cuts or restructures. Of course all of this is pure speculation.

I would still like to see 3 more things down in this early part of FA, just so I don't have to worry about them. 1. Sign Carter. 2 Sign Anderson 3 Sign the WR. Do that and I think we have, even at this early date, a team I'm comfortable going into the season. The draft and any additions we get would be gravy

I still wish I know where we stand with the cap, so I know we can add those FA's (though I expect Carter not to sign until very late in the process.

You're forgetting to subtract the roster spot on top 51 they are replacing. It's usually just under 400k or just under 500k.

 

[patfanken]

You're forgetting to subtract the roster spot on top 51 they are replacing. It's usually just under 400k or just under 500k.

so, for 5 players you would add 2.5MM to the cap number.

So based on that, counting the recent signings, the draft and reserve, the Pats have about $3MM (give or take $500K) available to sign additional FA - I don't think Anderson Carter and Llyod are going to like that.

Granted I think I saw a post that given the current contract, the Pats could very quickly add over $10MM with a few contract restructures and signing Welker long term. We can do it, but we are probably out of the big name FA market (for what's left)...if we were ever in it in the first place..

 

[KDPPatsfan85]

so, for 5 players you would add 2.5MM to the cap number.

So based on that, counting the recent signings, the draft and reserve, the Pats have about $3MM (give or take $500K) available to sign additional FA - I don't think Anderson Carter and Llyod are going to like that.

Granted I think I saw a post that given the current contract, the Pats could very quickly add over $10MM with a few contract restructures and signing Welker long term. We can do it, but we are probably out of the big name FA market (for what's left)...if we were ever in it in the first place..

Im sure the Patriots are working on restructing contracts to make more room.

 

[Ring 6]

so, for 5 players you would add 2.5MM to the cap number.

So based on that, counting the recent signings, the draft and reserve, the Pats have about $3MM (give or take $500K) available to sign additional FA - I don't think Anderson Carter and Llyod are going to like that.

Granted I think I saw a post that given the current contract, the Pats could very quickly add over $10MM with a few contract restructures and signing Welker long term. We can do it, but we are probably out of the big name FA market (for what's left)...if we were ever in it in the first place..

And the 5mill cushoin you referenced is not need until September, and often is a product of cutdowns.

 

[KDPPatsfan85]

Greg Bedard on twitter said that not including the connolly contract, the Patriots have 13.6 mil in cap space!

 

[patfanken]

And the 5mill cushoin you referenced is not need until September, and often is a product of cutdowns.

Oh, that's a good point.

 

[patfanken]

Greg Bedard on twitter said that not including the connolly contract, the Patriots have 13.6 mil in cap space!

....,and that's a good number. A lot better than mine. Its good be wrong

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I think a lot more than Connolly was missing from that cap #. Same sources had it at $14.1M plus the $1.6M on Tuesday AM before FA opened... When signings are announced it's often a day or two before the paperwork gets processed through the league office. I'd guess that $13.6M Thursday number didn't include more than one or two of the 6 signings to date.

 

[supafly]

And the 5mill cushoin you referenced is not need until September, and often is a product of cutdowns.

That's exactly what I've been thinking too, when everyone keeps referring to this approx. 5 million draft cost that we need to factor in right now.

I would imagine that the majority, if not all of that money will be cleared up a lot closer to the start/middle of summer. If that isn't the plan, it could certainly be achieved if the right fit/person comes along.

With that in mind, is it safe to assume that they may not be as concerned about that approx. 5 million number at this juncture in time?

 

[Fencer]

And the 5mill cushoin you referenced is not need until September,

Good point. The full cap hit for a season typically covers over 60 full-year salaries. But only 51 count against the cap for now.

 

[mgteich]

The net rookie money doesn't need to be factored in until there are signed. Usually only the 1st and 2nd rounders make much of a difference to the cap.

The $5M mentioned does need to be available until the final cut and can be gotten though combination of cuts and restructures. This amount is for Player 52, Player 53, players put on IR, the Practice Squad and an in-season injury reserve.

In a previous post, I had estimated about $6M for the total of the two amounts needs in July and later.

In any case, the current cap can be brought all the way down to zero. The only caution is that we cannot use all our available restructures. Some will be needed at the time of the last cut before the season starts.

That's exactly what I've been thinking too, when everyone keeps referring to this approx. 5 million draft cost that we need to factor in right now.

I would imagine that the majority, if not all of that money will be cleared up a lot closer to the start/middle of summer. If that isn't the plan, it could certainly be achieved if the right fit/person comes along.

With that in mind, is it safe to assume that they may not be as concerned about that approx. 5 million number at this juncture in time?

 

[supafly]

The net rookie money doesn't need to be factored in until there are signed. Usually only the 1st and 2nd rounders make much of a difference to the cap.

The $5M mentioned does need to be available until the final cut and can be gotten though combination of cuts and restructures. This amount is for Player 52, Player 53, players put on IR, the Practice Squad and an in-season injury reserve.

In a previous post, I had estimated about $6M for the total of the two amounts needs in July and later.

In any case, the current cap can be brought all the way down to zero. The only caution is that we cannot use all our available restructures. Some will be needed at the time of the last cut before the season starts.

Thanks for the response, mg. Much appreciated.

 

[ATippett56]

Salary Cap Calculation (numbers in 1000)

Niko Koutouvides - $850
Tracy White - $950
Matt Slater - $1467
Steve Gregory - $1683
Jonathan Fanene - $2108 ($825 minimum player salary + $3850/3 signing bonus)
Dan Connelly - $2250 (assumed equal to Brian Water's compensation)

Subtotal = $9348

2 * $390 + 4 * $465 = $2640 (Top 51 Salary Cap Replacements)

$9348 - $2640 = $6708

$120600 + $6667 = $127267 (League Salary Cap + New England Patriots Rollover)

$113381 (Current Salary Cap Hit without Chad Johnson restructure)

New England Patriots 2012 Salary Cap

$127267 - $113381 - $6708 + $1600 = $8778 (Remaining Cap Space)

Chad Johnson Restructure - $3000 - $1583 = $1417 (Base salary equals prorated bonus, for example)

If the restructured contract for Chad Johnson allows his base salary to equal the prorated bonus, an additional $1417 salary cap savings can be realized.

 

[everlong]

I don't know, it's really just guesswork until we start reading the details on what some of these recent contracts are valued at.

• - March 12: 2012 cap figure is announced to be $120.6 million
• - Pats carry over $6.7 million they didn't use from 2011
• - Pats adjusted cap number is now $127.3 million
• - Pats are one of 30 teams given $1.6 million in cap space from Washington and Dallas
• - Pats are committed to $111.1 million ($99.8 million which includes Wes Wlkers $9.515 million franchise tag, plus $11.3 million in dead cap money)
• - This gives the Pats $17.8 million in cap space entering free agency

Since then this is what the Pats have done; everyone can fill in their own numbers for what they think each player's cap number will be. Keep in mind only the top 51 contracts count towards the cap right now.

• - 2nd round tender on Brian Hoyer ($1.9 million)
• - Kyle Love tendered
• - Niko Koutovides signed ($850,000)
• - Matthew Slater signed
• - Tracy White signed
• - Jonathan Fanene signed (3 years, 12 million, $3.85 signing bonus)
• - Marcus Harrison signed
• - Steve Gregory signed
• - Dan Connolly signed

I would guess the Pats have somewhere around $7 to $8 million available right now, perhaps?

For all the crying around here the Patriots have quietly done a great job of team building vs talent accumulation. Rumor is they're close on Lloyd. If that happens they solidified the WR and OL. They've added depth to both the DL and secondary and they taken care of special teams. If they can add a coverage LB and perhaps a corner then they can approach the draft as lets take the best player available and set up good competition. Sounds like business as usual.

 

[micronin127]

Took my best guess at where Patriots currently stand against the salary cap.

Two placeholders of $2.5 million for first year cap hits for Jonathan Fanenen and Dan Connolly are 'best guess'.

Counting Niko Koutouvides, Tracy White, and Marcus Harrison as 'qualifying contracts' per the CBA and counting only $540K against the cap are also guesswork, but they all seem to fit the definition.

Some of your comments from this thread appear in footnotes. Thank you for posting the information.

At any point in time, I am usually within $2 million of reality. When a reporter or source, such as ProFootballTalk.com reports team-by-team available cap space, I take their number as accurate and adjust mine via the 'adjustments to cap' and then move forward from there.

I think that we have $8.9 million in cap space left. Strongly agree with what 'mgteich' wrote about rookie pool. You don't need $5 million in cpa space to sign rookies when you have 60 players already under contract and the Rule of 51 is in place. You do need $5 million in cap space to start the season for the reasons he lists.

Pats are in good shape and can create cap space in a variety of ways:
1. Matt Light retiring would create $4.5 million in space.
2. Ochocinco converting base to NLTBE incentives could create $1.0 million
3. Signing Welker to long-term deal could lower first year cap hit.
4. Restructuring Brady, Mayo, Wilfork, or Mankins in a real pinch.

Pats look like they are going to play a lot more 3-4, which might be good for Jermaine Cunningham who played more as a rookie in the 3-4 than he did last year in the 4-3.

Who knows about Brandon Lloyd or LaRon Landry? Even Steve Gregory could turn out to be this year's Shawn Springs. Fanene looks like a solid signing. Would like to see Andre Carter and/or Mark Anderson back. Same for Green-Ellis. Would like to see a 3rd TE signed possibly allowing us to flex Hernandez out to WR.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Jason at jetscap had us $10.4M under before counting Fanene, Connolloy, and today's signings of Gonzalez and Lloyd. Those 4 will lop another $5-6M off depending on contract structure after adjusting for top 51. That would leave us at around $5M under. Pending restructures, cuts or retirements.

New England Patriots Salary Cap 2012

 

[micronin127]

I have us at $7 million in cap space with the following placeholders awaiting contract details:

Jonathan Fanene, Dan Connolly, and Brandon Lloyd all count $2.5 million in first year cap hit.

Also assumes that Tracy White, Niko Koutouvides, Trevor Scott, Anthony Gonzalez, and Marcus Harrison all signed 1-year qualifying contracts that will count at only $540K against the cap due to favorable salary cap treatment.

Either of those assumptions could be off and we could have less than $7 million.

We still have enough space to keep going. Maybe Ihedigbo, Green-Ellis, and Fells?

No real big cash outlays yet increases the chance that we will take care of two of our own with long-term deals: Welker and Chung?

We have 64 players under contract.

 

[ivanvamp]

I have us at $7 million in cap space with the following placeholders awaiting contract details:

Jonathan Fanene, Dan Connolly, and Brandon Lloyd all count $2.5 million in first year cap hit.

Also assumes that Tracy White, Niko Koutouvides, Trevor Scott, Anthony Gonzalez, and Marcus Harrison all signed 1-year qualifying contracts that will count at only $540K against the cap due to favorable salary cap treatment.

Either of those assumptions could be off and we could have less than $7 million.

We still have enough space to keep going. Maybe Ihedigbo, Green-Ellis, and Fells?

No real big cash outlays yet increases the chance that we will take care of two of our own with long-term deals: Welker and Chung?

We have 64 players under contract.

Restructure Ocho and save $1.4 million. Cut Gostowski and save $3 million. Trade Hoyer for a 2nd or 3rd rounder and save $1.9 million. That would put the Pats over $13 million. Save $7 million to sign vets for the minimum to replace these guys (even at kicker) and for rookies. That leaves them with $6 million. Put a full-court press on for Wimbley to sign this kind of deal:

2012: $6 million ($6 million guaranteed)
2013: $7.8 million ($7.8 million guaranteed)
2014: $10.1 million ($10 million guaranteed)
2015: $13.2 million ($4 million guaranteed)
2016: $17.2 million

Total: 5 years, 54.3 million, $27.8 million guaranteed

The cap is going up like crazy in 2014, so they can afford the rapid increases from there. Each year is the max 30% contract increase. He gets nearly $30 million guaranteed. He gets to play for the AFC's best team. It might not be as much money as other teams can offer, and he could be cut after 2015 with no penalty in 2016 when he's 32-33 years old if he's not productive.

 

[BlueThunder]

Cut Gost ???????????????

I quit reading there..........

 

[micronin127]

Cut Gostkowski?

More likely way to get cap space is make decision to insert Solder at LT and Light retires, creating $4.5 million. Restrucuring Ocho by converting $1.5 million of base into NLTBE incentives would also help.

Not sure they will throw big money at Wimbley. More likely they throw average money at Anderson/Carter.

Also, last season they locked up Mankins/Mayo. Season before Brady/Wilfork. I think their big money deals will go to their own core players like Welker and Chung. And to Gronknandez in 2013.

Hoyer likely sticks around one more year. Fans like me might think that getting a 2nd round pick now instead of nothing in one year is good value, but if he is #2 on the depth chart and the dropoff to Mallett is large, then letting him go weakens the 2012 Patriots. It all depends on how the coaching staff views Mallett's progression and readiness to be the backup.