I recently did the exercise of seeing what the 2014 Pats roster would cost if you kept the key players on the roster together, paying each player whatever their market value is now, and compared it with the comparable roster we actually have for the 2017 team. I used the Average Annual Value (AAV) from spotrac.com for all the numbers and chose the offensive and defensive starters and key subs. The special teams mainstays probably don't change the numbers much, and they are much the same personnel.
To the surprise of probably no one, maintaining the 2014 roster at market value would be far more expensive than the equivalent 2017 roster by around $30 million. This is despite the fact that seven of those 2014 players are now out of the league and not drawing salary and that the 2017 roster seems much more talented (for a game played in 2017, at least).
In this scenario, I assume that Butler has been traded to New Orleans and will make $12,000,000 AAV from the Saints. If he stays on the team playing under the tender, the 2014 roster draws closer by $8 million or so.
I am tempted to doing this exercise with our SB49 opponents, the Seahawks. I imagine that they have been less successful in keeping their payroll down.
2014 roster's salaries in 2017
Player Pos 2017 Salary (AAV)
Tom Brady QB $20,500,000
Shane Vereen RB $4,116,667
LeGarette Blount RB $1,000,000
Stevan Ridley RB N/A
Brandon LaFell WR $4,500,000
Julian Edelman WR $4,250,000
Danny Amendola WR $4,050,000
Kenbrell Thompkins WR N/A
Rob Gronkowski TE $9,000,000
Michael Hoomanawanui TE $1,733,333
Nate Solder LT $10,031,000
Dan Connolly LG N/A
Bryan Stork C N/A
Ryan Wendell RG $885,000
Sebastian Vollmer RT N/A
Marcus Cannon T $6,482,000
Chandler Jones DE $16,500,000
Rob Ninkovich DE $3,500,000
Akeem Ayers DE $2,600,000
Sealver Siliga DT $1,100,000
Vince Wilfork DT $4,500,000
Jamie Collins LB $12,500,000
Dont'a Hightower LB $10,875,000
Jerod Mayo LB N/A
Kyle Arrington CB $2,333,333
Darrelle Revis CB $14,024,212
Brandon Browner CB N/A
Malcolm Butler CB $12,000,000
Devin McCourty S $9,500,000
Patrick Chung S $2,733,333
Duron Harmon S $4,250,000
Total AAV
$162,963,878
2017 roster's salary for 2017 (AAV)
Player Pos Salary (AAV)
Tom Brady QB $20,500,000
James White RB $654,272
Dion Lewis RB $1,300,000
Rex Burkhead RB $3,150,000
Brandin Cooks WR $2,095,863
Julian Edelman WR $4,250,000
Malcolm Mitchell WR $729,498
Chris Hogan WR $3,910,000
Rob Gronkowski TE $9,000,000
Dwayne Allen TE $7,350,000
Nate Solder LT $10,031,000
Joe Thuney LG $803,357
David Andrews C $530,000
Shaq Mason RG $680,881
Marcus Cannon RT $6,482,000
Cameron Fleming T $1,797,000
Trey Flowers DE $709,733
Rob Ninkovich DE $3,500,000
Lawrence Guy DE $3,350,000
Malcom Brown DT $1,903,307
Alan Branch DT $4,225,000
Kyle Van Noy LB $1,275,524
Dont'a Hightower LB $10,875,000
Elandon Roberts LB $610,089
Stephone Gilmore CB $13,000,000
Cyrus Jones CB $1,001,676
Eric Rowe CB $1,219,966
Justin Coleman CB $615,000
Devin McCourty S $9,500,000
Patrick Chung S $2,733,333
Duron Harmon S $4,250,000
Total AAV
$132,032,499
To the surprise of probably no one, maintaining the 2014 roster at market value would be far more expensive than the equivalent 2017 roster by around $30 million. This is despite the fact that seven of those 2014 players are now out of the league and not drawing salary and that the 2017 roster seems much more talented (for a game played in 2017, at least).
In this scenario, I assume that Butler has been traded to New Orleans and will make $12,000,000 AAV from the Saints. If he stays on the team playing under the tender, the 2014 roster draws closer by $8 million or so.
I am tempted to doing this exercise with our SB49 opponents, the Seahawks. I imagine that they have been less successful in keeping their payroll down.
2014 roster's salaries in 2017
Player Pos 2017 Salary (AAV)
Tom Brady QB $20,500,000
Shane Vereen RB $4,116,667
LeGarette Blount RB $1,000,000
Stevan Ridley RB N/A
Brandon LaFell WR $4,500,000
Julian Edelman WR $4,250,000
Danny Amendola WR $4,050,000
Kenbrell Thompkins WR N/A
Rob Gronkowski TE $9,000,000
Michael Hoomanawanui TE $1,733,333
Nate Solder LT $10,031,000
Dan Connolly LG N/A
Bryan Stork C N/A
Ryan Wendell RG $885,000
Sebastian Vollmer RT N/A
Marcus Cannon T $6,482,000
Chandler Jones DE $16,500,000
Rob Ninkovich DE $3,500,000
Akeem Ayers DE $2,600,000
Sealver Siliga DT $1,100,000
Vince Wilfork DT $4,500,000
Jamie Collins LB $12,500,000
Dont'a Hightower LB $10,875,000
Jerod Mayo LB N/A
Kyle Arrington CB $2,333,333
Darrelle Revis CB $14,024,212
Brandon Browner CB N/A
Malcolm Butler CB $12,000,000
Devin McCourty S $9,500,000
Patrick Chung S $2,733,333
Duron Harmon S $4,250,000
Total AAV
$162,963,878
2017 roster's salary for 2017 (AAV)
Player Pos Salary (AAV)
Tom Brady QB $20,500,000
James White RB $654,272
Dion Lewis RB $1,300,000
Rex Burkhead RB $3,150,000
Brandin Cooks WR $2,095,863
Julian Edelman WR $4,250,000
Malcolm Mitchell WR $729,498
Chris Hogan WR $3,910,000
Rob Gronkowski TE $9,000,000
Dwayne Allen TE $7,350,000
Nate Solder LT $10,031,000
Joe Thuney LG $803,357
David Andrews C $530,000
Shaq Mason RG $680,881
Marcus Cannon RT $6,482,000
Cameron Fleming T $1,797,000
Trey Flowers DE $709,733
Rob Ninkovich DE $3,500,000
Lawrence Guy DE $3,350,000
Malcom Brown DT $1,903,307
Alan Branch DT $4,225,000
Kyle Van Noy LB $1,275,524
Dont'a Hightower LB $10,875,000
Elandon Roberts LB $610,089
Stephone Gilmore CB $13,000,000
Cyrus Jones CB $1,001,676
Eric Rowe CB $1,219,966
Justin Coleman CB $615,000
Devin McCourty S $9,500,000
Patrick Chung S $2,733,333
Duron Harmon S $4,250,000
Total AAV
$132,032,499
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