Where to save some cap space

[Deus Irae]

Giving in to Mankins was a huge mistake.

I said it at the time, and today it is even more evident.

He is nowhere near as important to the team as Brady or Wilfork. There was little to no dropoff when Donald Thomas subbed for him. Certainly nowhere NEAR the dropoff to Brady or Wilfork's backups.

There was a tremendous dropoff, and that was despite Mankins being a hobbled shell of his normal self. Paying Mankins was smart then, it's smart now, and it would have been smarter if they'd done it the year before they did.

 

[Patsrock]

I am not sure if I am remembering this right or not. But per the CBA Brady can't restructure his deal. It would have to be a extension right?

 

[jmt57]

I am not sure if I am remembering this right or not. But per the CBA Brady can't restructure his deal. It would have to be a extension right?

Without looking it up, I thought the restriction was one change (restructure) per NFL year.

If that is correct then the Pats would have to wait until after March 12 to do so.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Without looking it up, I thought the restriction was one change (restructure) per NFL year.

If that is correct then the Pats would have to wait until after March 12 to do so.

Not literally, but, for all practical purposes, yes.

 

[DaBruinz]

I was reading elsewhere about the Pats' cap situation and I'm wondering where might be some good places to save some $$ that can be used to improve the team elsewhere. Sometimes there might be a big cost savings, and other times small ones, but remember, a few small ones can add up to a big one.

So here's my first idea: Cut Stephen Gostkowski.

Gostkowski, Stephen K P/K
Cap value: $3,408,120
Dead money: $1,600,000
Cap savings: $1,808,120

I think he's a very good kicker, but he's coming off a subpar year and he's among the highest paid kickers in the league (currently the 3rd highest paid). I would bet the Pats could fill that role effectively with a guy who makes a lot less than Ghost.

Other savings ideas?

Subpar year? Why was it "sub-par"? Because, of the 6 kicks he missed, 2 of them would have made differences in a game. And One of them was actually good, by the rules, though the refs were too ignorant to realize that.

So he had 1 bad kick all year?
He was top 5 in the kicking game. He had the MOST kick-offs of anyone in 2012. He had over 50 TBs. He didn't kick any OOBs. And the return average was at 20.5 going into the play-offs.

It always amazes me how people say he had an off year but only look at FGs and not the rest of his game.

 

[DaBruinz]

Voiding the terms of the Fanene contract because of his unreported / unauthorized surgery could be huge, 2.56 million if I recall correctly.

This hasn't been decided yet, has it?

It was 4Million and it's not been decided upon as far as we know.

EDIT: I know that PWP mentioned that someone said the Pats missed the deadline, but that was never verified with a credible source. And, the Pats filed the paperwork when they went to the league about voiding Fanene's contract, so I'm not sure how they would have "missed the deadline."

 

[TBradyOwnsYou]

Re: Salary Cap - $18.6Mil for NE

2013 cap space
team carryover total space

ny jets $3.4m -$19.4m

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

 

[jsull87]

Honestly i think we have the ability to free up between $3-10m by some cuts and restructures.

Fells
Cunningham
Larsen
Bernard

Saves us about $3M according to nyjetscap for 2013. Ballard comes in for Fells, Armstead for Cunningham, Fletcher for Larsen and Bernard gets cut.

the second way is restructuring by extending Brady. His cap hit next year is $21.8 M. You extend him and get that figure down to a more manageable but still large 15-18M and that gives the pats another $3.8-6.8 M to work with.

These cuts and extensions can take our free space out to $21-28m. This gives us more room with our big FA's.

Also to the people saying cut Gostowski i understand the $1.8m savings there but we would need to pay another kicker to come in so you will need to factor that into your thoughts.

A big one is the re-structure of Brady. We do that and free up say 4.5m. That can go to basically taking care of all our fringe FA's leaving the $18.6m to focus on our big 3 resignings.

 

[ausbacker]

Honestly i think we have the ability to free up between $3-10m by some cuts and restructures.

Fells
Cunningham
Larsen
Bernard

Saves us about $3M according to nyjetscap for 2013. Ballard comes in for Fells, Armstead for Cunningham, Fletcher for Larsen and Bernard gets cut.

the second way is restructuring by extending Brady. His cap hit next year is $21.8 M. You extend him and get that figure down to a more manageable but still large 15-18M and that gives the pats another $3.8-6.8 M to work with.

These cuts and extensions can take our free space out to $21-28m. This gives us more room with our big FA's.

Also to the people saying cut Gostowski i understand the $1.8m savings there but we would need to pay another kicker to come in so you will need to factor that into your thoughts.

A big one is the re-structure of Brady. We do that and free up say 4.5m. That can go to basically taking care of all our fringe FA's leaving the $18.6m to focus on our big 3 resignings.

Rookie place kickers are looking pretty good coming out of college these days. I'm not proposing that Ghost is cut, but a late round flier might not be such a bad idea being brought in to compete with him.

 

[mayoclinic]

Honestly i think we have the ability to free up between $3-10m by some cuts and restructures.

Fells
Cunningham
Larsen
Bernard

Saves us about $3M according to nyjetscap for 2013. Ballard comes in for Fells, Armstead for Cunningham, Fletcher for Larsen and Bernard gets cut.

the second way is restructuring by extending Brady. His cap hit next year is $21.8 M. You extend him and get that figure down to a more manageable but still large 15-18M and that gives the pats another $3.8-6.8 M to work with.

These cuts and extensions can take our free space out to $21-28m. This gives us more room with our big FA's.

Also to the people saying cut Gostowski i understand the $1.8m savings there but we would need to pay another kicker to come in so you will need to factor that into your thoughts.

A big one is the re-structure of Brady. We do that and free up say 4.5m. That can go to basically taking care of all our fringe FA's leaving the $18.6m to focus on our big 3 resignings.

Right now Jason's site lists 52 players with 2013 cap hits totalling $105,402,517, plus an additional $4,516,196 in dead money.

New England Patriots Salary Cap 2013

That doesn't include the following:

- DE/OLB Jason Vega, who was signed to a reserves/futures contract last week, but who's contract is included on Jason's page
- DT Myron Pryor, who is under contract for 2013 since he didn't play in 2012 and didn't accrue a 4th year of playing time under his rookie contract
- FB Tony Fiametta, who is under contract for 2013 since he didn't play in 2012 due to a leave for family reasons
- ERFA TE Jake Ballard, currently unsigned

We obviously don't know who will make the roster and who won't, but there are a number of "long shots" currently under contract who are likely to be cut, and if they are signed it would be to the PS for less money:

- DE Tracy Robertson - would free up $405K
- TE Brad Herman - would free up $405K
- OT Kyle Hix - would free up $405K
- FB James Develin - would free up $480K
- DB Malcolm Williams - would free up $480K
- WR Kamar Aiken - would free up $480K
- RB Mike Rivera - would free up $480K
- WR Andre Holmes - would free up $555K
- QB Mike Kafka - would free up $555K
- LB Jeff Tarpinian - would free up $555K
- DE Marcus Benard - would free up $630K

Collectively those 11 contracts total $5,430,000. Some of those guys will probably make the team, but certainly not all of them - and if they do, it will come at the expense of high paid guys. Probably not more than 4-5 of those guys would actually make the team, so there will likely be another $3M or so freed up of the money currently listed by Jason. Some of that may go into signing guys to the PS or into the IR pool, or towards rookies.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Honestly i think we have the ability to free up between $3-10m by some cuts and restructures.

Fells
Cunningham
Larsen
Bernard

Saves us about $3M according to nyjetscap for 2013. Ballard comes in for Fells, Armstead for Cunningham, Fletcher for Larsen and Bernard gets cut.

For the moment, Armstead is replacing Trevor Scott, who's a UFA.

 

[mgteich]

I don't think that it is useful to consider cap money saved by cutting minimum salary players. We have FOURTEEN million available, after paying for draftees, incentives from last year and even workout bonuses. I think that it useful to consider changes on a net basis. The money needed for an in-season reserve and the Practice Squad can be gotten through late minute cuts and/or restructures.

We know what we have for available for re-signings and free agency.

IMHO, the roster is "ready to go" with the exception of the obvious holes at wide receiver and cornerback. These situations are obvious since the almost the entire groups at both positions are free agents.

Obviously, we will consider drafting or securing free agents at safety and on the OL, but these are relatively minor matters compared to the situations at CB and WR.

========
A SIDE NOTE
I presume that ERFA Ballard will be on the team through camp, as will RFA's Hooman and Fletcher, reducing the available cap money for free agency some. Also, I don't see any reason to cut Fells early. Camp competition is a good thing.
=========
The challenge is to meet the needs at corner and wide receiver for twelve million, perhaps with the help of a restructure or two. IMHO, we also need to find cap room for Woodhead and Thomas. This is a very short list of offseason needs.

Right now Jason's site lists 52 players with 2013 cap hits totalling $105,402,517, plus an additional $4,516,196 in dead money.

New England Patriots Salary Cap 2013

That doesn't include the following:

- DE/OLB Jason Vega, who was signed to a reserves/futures contract last week, but who's contract is included on Jason's page
- DT Myron Pryor, who is under contract for 2013 since he didn't play in 2012 and didn't accrue a 4th year of playing time under his rookie contract
- FB Tony Fiametta, who is under contract for 2013 since he didn't play in 2012 due to a leave for family reasons
- ERFA TE Jake Ballard, currently unsigned

We obviously don't know who will make the roster and who won't, but there are a number of "long shots" currently under contract who are likely to be cut, and if they are signed it would be to the PS for less money:

- DE Tracy Robertson - would free up $405K
- TE Brad Herman - would free up $405K
- OT Kyle Hix - would free up $405K
- FB James Develin - would free up $480K
- DB Malcolm Williams - would free up $480K
- WR Kamar Aiken - would free up $480K
- RB Mike Rivera - would free up $480K
- WR Andre Holmes - would free up $555K
- QB Mike Kafka - would free up $555K
- LB Jeff Tarpinian - would free up $555K
- DE Marcus Benard - would free up $630K

Collectively those 11 contracts total $5,430,000. Some of those guys will probably make the team, but certainly not all of them - and if they do, it will come at the expense of high paid guys. Probably not more than 4-5 of those guys would actually make the team, so there will likely be another $3M or so freed up of the money currently listed by Jason. Some of that may go into signing guys to the PS or into the IR pool, or towards rookies.

 

[Ivan]

I thought Cunningham looked pretty good before the suspension and don't see much sense in getting rid of him. I would definitely keep him around.

 

[mayoclinic]

The money needed for an in-season reserve and the Practice Squad can be gotten through late minute cuts and/or restructures.

That was my point. Not that we should count on that money for signings, but that we're essentially guaranteed to free up a few million through bottom of the roster cut-downs which should take essentially care of the in-season reserve, PS and other miscellaneous expenses. So from my perspective that cost is already built in to our current cap estimate.

 

[Avenger]

Ballard's contract tolls since he was technically on the last year of his contract, next year he will be a ERFA and the year after a RFA

 

[mgteich]

Rotoworld believes that we signed Ballard as a free agent after he was waived and that he is an ERFA this year.

Ballard's contract tolls since he was technically on the last year of his contract, next year he will be a ERFA and the year after a RFA

 

[mgteich]

This is fine as long as we understand that we will likely keep guys like Fells well into camp.

In any case, we are essentially in agreement with regard to the amounts available.

It will definitely be interesting to see who is re-signed before free agency starts.

That was my point. Not that we should count on that money for signings, but that we're essentially guaranteed to free up a few million through bottom of the roster cut-downs which should take essentially care of the in-season reserve, PS and other miscellaneous expenses. So from my perspective that cost is already built in to our current cap estimate.

 

[mayoclinic]

I don't think the Pats will cut off their nose to spite their face. Cutting Fells and Gregory right now probably doesn't save enough to do anything, so unless they can be traded - unlikely, though not out of the question - it probably makes sense to keep them into camp. Depth has proven valuable before, and unexpected injuries could make them more useful than they currently appear. But they'll have to earn their roster spots, meager savings or not.

This is fine as long as we understand that we will likely keep guys like Fells well into camp.

In any case, we are essentially in agreement with regard to the amounts available.

It will definitely be interesting to see who is re-signed before free agency starts.

 

[Froob]

Wow how did arizona manage that, spent nearly to the cap and has barely any talent on offense.

 

[mgteich]

I agree with your comments.

I am amused that everyone sees Gregory as gone. IMHO, he is a fine #3 safety and an OK #2 safety. We have plenty of room on the roster to keep Gregory in addition to adding a young safety. After all, the young safety will be replacing Chung, not Gregory.

I don't think the Pats will cut off their nose to spite their face. Cutting Fells and Gregory right now probably doesn't save enough to do anything, so unless they can be traded - unlikely, though not out of the question - it probably makes sense to keep them into camp. Depth has proven valuable before, and unexpected injuries could make them more useful than they currently appear. But they'll have to earn their roster spots, meager savings or not.