Reiss: Salary cap check

[PatsChamp88]

This morning, I checked in with some folks who have access to these details and keep updated salary cap information. I was told the Patriots have about $4.7 million of salary cap space, which is tight relative to other clubs in the NFL.

The approximate $4.7 million in space will be needed to sign draft picks. The Patriots have been allotted $6.03 million of salary cap space to sign their picks, according to ESPN.com's Len Pasquarelli.

Salary cap check - Reiss' Pieces - Boston.com

ProFootballTalk.Com reported on 4/22 that the Pats were under their adjusted cap by about $4.67 million so my numbers were off by about $620,000 at that time so I believe that the Pats are actually under the cap by about $5.6 million.

Miguel's UNOFFICIAL 2009 Patriots Salary Cap Information Page

Update for you Peppers guys

 

[eom]

oh, mike reiss.....I'm so disappointed......

 

[JoeSixPat]

Salary cap check - Reiss' Pieces - Boston.com


Miguel's UNOFFICIAL 2009 Patriots Salary Cap Information Page

Update for you Peppers guys

Not that I'm advocating for it, but what would Peppers cap hit be in Year 1 of a long term contract? $10 million? (I haven't been paying attention since I don't think it will happen)

Challenge Miguel to creatively "find" that much cap space with minimal disruption or lost players and creative extentions and I bet he'd be up to the challenge.

It might mean cutting some quality backups - which I don't think is in keeping with BB's overall approach, but I'm pretty sure it could be done.

 

[eom]

haha....we've actually been discussing that in some of those monster peppers threads, and I'm not sure we ever came to an agreement.
although, I'm pretty sure miguel isn't too interested in finding the space.

I'm not completely clear on it, but I think the cap hit would be way smaller than you might think --- certainly less than 10m.
one thing that is very hard to establish is what kind of deal would peppers really be willing to take?

as far as hypothetical cap hits --- that haynesworth deal gets thrown around as some kind of monster money benchmark, but his '09 hit is only 6-7m, I believe.

another thing is the possibility of using completion bonuses to circumvent the cap, which is apparently something new orleans just did a little of, but I'm not really clear on all the cap implications there.
it's possible that using completion bonuses could dramatically shrink his '09 cap, but I welcome corrections on that.

the problem right now, is that as small as you can get it, the pats still only have about 5m in cap, with some of that earmarked for rookies.
so, if you really wanted to pursue this as an intellectual exercise, I'll say it could move into the realm of possibility w/a brady restructure, kicking green in on the deal, and completion bonuses.