Taking another look at the cap situation for next season.

[AHoodieWorshipperInParis]

So that is 35M with 40M more to spend and the team would look like this. For FAs i get the D some help.

Kawann Short DT 9M - Maye the best defensive FA who will actually see free agency. They need pass rush from the interior.
Calais Campbell DE/DT 6M - We will need to draft a pass rusher but this guy reminds me of a poor man's Seymour. You can play a 3-4 or 4-3 with him which Bill would like.
Zach Brown LB 5M - Someone to start opposite Hightower in a fairly weak FA class but he would be a solid starter.
Melvin Ingram - DE 6M - You need pass rush help and maybe it is him or Petty but I want them to bring in a DE and draft one.

I like this list. i was pissed off when they passed up on Zach Brown, considering (retrospectively) the money they gave to McClellin.

Talking about DE, how about Andre Branch, JPP (a one year "prove it" deal if he's worth it: i didn't really watch him this year) or trading for Carlos Dunlap (or getting Akiem Hicks back as an interior disruptor if the price is right, i.e. maybe Derby's 5th round pick for one year left in his 5M$ / year contract) ? I mean, besides the blatant lack of interior pressure, they probably miss that "long wingspan" type DE they had in Chandler, that often requires some double-team from the opposite OL. Talk about domino effect.

 

[DarrylS]

Will there be enough to sign $$$ that top 5 draft pick after we trade Garapolo???

 

[Gwedd]

Here' the elephant in the rook: Brady

Despite how long HE thinks he can play, we can still see a bit of the sharpness coming off the blade. His long balls haven't been what they used to. He makes some, to be sure, but he's also been off target on several in the past few games, especially to Edelman. Now, Brady is locked up through the '17 season, IIRC, but after that? I know folks don't want to think about the post-Brady era, let alone TALK about it, but it will happen, and odds are it will be sooner than we think.

Right now New England has Jimmy G in the fold. I'd be holding off talk on trades until the team gets through THIS season. What happens if New England wins it all, and Gisele talks Tommy into hanging up his cleats? It's not that far-fetched a scenario. At some point, she's going to want him home as a full-time dad to the kids. So if the team trades Alladin early, and then Brady suddenly decides to retire?

Yeah, I know. I know. Crazy talk. Brady's gonna play forever, yadda yadda yadda. But teams need a contingency plan, and to my mind, New England would be foolish to trade Jimmy G before seeing how things play out with Brady next year at training camp.

YMMV, of course, but these sorts of scenarios need to be addressed by teams that have an edge and want to keep it.

 

[AHoodieWorshipperInParis]

What happens if New England wins it all, and Gisselle talks Tommy into hanging up his cleats? It's not that far-fetched a scenario.

Do you mean Gisele might eventually prove to be the Patriots Yoko Ono ?

 

[Gwedd]

Do you mean Gisele might eventually prove to be the Patriots Yoko Ono ?

It could happen....... Not saying it will, but stranger things have happened.

 

[AHoodieWorshipperInParis]

It could happen....... Not saying it will, but stranger things have happened.

Interesting point. I hope it won't happen until Tommy get ring #6. She's supposed to love rings just like every women, isn't she ?

 

[Gronk]

Here' the elephant in the rook: Brady

Despite how long HE thinks he can play, we can still see a bit of the sharpness coming off the blade. His long balls haven't been what they used to. He makes some, to be sure, but he's also been off target on several in the past few games, especially to Edelman. Now, Brady is locked up through the '17 season, IIRC, but after that? I know folks don't want to think about the post-Brady era, let alone TALK about it, but it will happen, and odds are it will be sooner than we think.

Right now New England has Jimmy G in the fold. I'd be holding off talk on trades until the team gets through THIS season. What happens if New England wins it all, and Gisselle talks Tommy into hanging up his cleats? It's not that far-fetched a scenario. At some point, she's going to want him home as a full-time dad to the kids. So if the team trades Alladin early, and then Brady suddenly decides to retire?

Yeah, I know. I know. Crazy talk. Brady's gonna play forever, yadda yadda yadda. But teams need a contingency plan, and to my mind, New England would be foolish to trade Jimmy G before seeing how things play out with Brady next year at training camp.

YMMV, of course, but these sorts of scenarios need to be addressed by teams that have an edge and want to keep it.

Yeah, no one wants to talk about Brady vs. JG. What? There's been, at minimum, 5000 pages of posts about it on this site alone.

Most of that has gone relatively silent since Tom came back and has still been, you know, the best QB in the league. He's currently sitting on his best completion percentage, yards per game, yards per attempt, passer rating, and td/int ratio of his entire career. If that's sharpness coming off the blade, man I'll take it. I've never understood why they throw deep to Edelman, it never really seems to work, so if you want to base your assertion on the mid-part of the SF game alone where he fixated on Edelman and made a couple weird decisions then ok. But he's been more successful throwing down the field to Hogan and Gronk than at any point since Moss was around.

Trade deadline's past anyway, so no worries on the "holding off on trade talks" til this season is over. They can't do anything anyways. And he's signed thru '19.

I guess you can worry about Gisele Yoko-ing the whole situation if you want, but I think she knows who she married. Could it happen? Sure. But it is, and will remain, baseless speculation.

 

[Gwedd]

Yeah, no one wants to talk about Brady vs. JG. What? There's been, at minimum, 5000 pages of posts about it on this site alone.

Most of that has gone relatively silent since Tom came back and has still been, you know, the best QB in the league. He's currently sitting on his best completion percentage, yards per game, yards per attempt, passer rating, and td/int ratio of his entire career. If that's sharpness coming off the blade, man I'll take it. I've never understood why they throw deep to Edelman, it never really seems to work, so if you want to base your assertion on the mid-part of the SF game alone where he fixated on Edelman and made a couple weird decisions then ok. But he's been more successful throwing down the field to Hogan and Gronk than at any point since Moss was around.

Trade deadline's past anyway, so no worries on the "holding off on trade talks" til this season is over. They can't do anything anyways. And he's signed thru '19.

I guess you can worry about Gisele Yoko-ing the whole situation if you want, but I think she knows who she married. Could it happen? Sure. But it is, and will remain, baseless speculation.

FWIW, my post wasn't talking about Brady versus Jimmy. It was about planning for either Brady deciding to hang it up, or the team deciding to move on, or a serious injury and what that might entail to his remaining in New England. Tommy has said time and again that everyone is expendable, that no one is safe from being cut or traded. Now, as the franchise, yeah, he should be pretty safe, but even with him signed through '19, that only means that the team has the rights to him through then.

My caution is that it would be foolish to trade away JG after the season, and have all the cap money allocated to everyone else, and then find out that Brady won't be back. permanently, or for a chunk of the season. It'd be a prudent thing to hold some cash back, just in case.

 

[mihap]

Unlikely that he leaves.

Hope so, he was second on my preseason must sign FA list after Hightower. But right now Butler and Bennet are must.

 

[NG Pats Fan]

The sad news concerning the end of Sebastian Volmer's season got me thinking about next year's cap situation and the ramifications of recent events.

Going into this season, it was clear that we would have a ton of cap room (roughly around $65MM). Correct me if I'm wrong, but that number could rise even higher if we rollover some or all of the $9MM we are under right now. We also had a ton of FA's to sign to fairly big money deals, so most of that cap room was likely to be absorbed signing up key core players to new deals.

Well, recent events have drastically thinned that list of FA signings, or at least changed the priorities of who is likely to be back. Gone are Chandler Jones and Jamie Collins. Looking less interesting is Jabal Sheard, Volmer, and Chris Long.

I guess what I'm saying is that, most fans were thinking that the vast cap room would be used to sign our own guys, while now it looks like we will have more than enough money to pay those who are left when the dust of this season comes to rest, plus be a pretty big player in the open market for other people's stars.

The Purpose of this thread is to consider the "new reality" of the consequences of the Jones/Collins trades, the Sheard demotion, etc and rethink the priorities of the coming FA season. Who to sign from our group and who to go after.

BTW- I'm not sure who exactly are going to be FA's next season. But this would be my priority list.

1. Danta Hightower - When the time came, BB got Mayo on to his 2nd contract, and he will do the same with Danta. But I bet he is watching closely to see how High responds to the adversity of losing Collins, and Sheard's demotion. But in the end the Pats will work out a deal that will make High one of the top 5 highest paid LB's in the league.

2. Marty Bennett - I thought this was going to be a one year rental, but now there is room to pay him, if he wants to stay. No matter how good he's played he's still going to be 30 next season, so top dollar is not going to be necessary. He's currently making $5MM/yr. I'd be comfortable giving him a healthy raise to $7MM/yr for 3 years, and then try to find another Derby to fit in as your 3rd guy. Marty just wants to be where he is appreciated. I don't see some other teams willing to go to $8MM for him/

3. Malcolm Butler - This is hard, because the thing is, you really don't HAVE to pay him. By giving him a first round tender, you already give him a very healthy raise, that is unlikely to be matched by another team. Butler has proven to be well worth a big money extention, but the cold fact is, why do it when you don't have to. It's not like he'd be making what he is this season, I don't know what the first round tender requires, but I'm sure it will be in the multiple millions.....just not 10.

4. Logan Ryan - He is better by far than most people here think, at least in my opinion. He's not a great NFL CB, merely a very good one. I have no idea what the market will be for "very good" CB's. But I'd certainly try amd make him a priority. Not only does he do a nice job in coverage, he an excellent tackler and most important, DEPENDABLE - He's always available to play. I'm thinking something long term in the $5-7MM range is where the Pats market will be. What he'll be offered might be more. I'd be OK with that 5-7 range.

5. Gronk - I think he needs to be extended, even with the injuries. He is just THAT impactful to this offense. Still he is under contract until the end of the 2019 season at some fairly big money, so I don't know what he'd be looking for. His base salary in 2019 is already $9MM

OK - That's should get the conversation started and hopefully add some more intelligent observations than my, off the cuff, thoughts.

Good Post however I stopped reading when you referred to Logan Ryan as a "very good NFL CB". ************.

 

[patfanken]

Good Post however I stopped reading when you referred to Logan Ryan as a "very good NFL CB". ************.

I'm sure you have also stopped reading when very early on I wrote that Marcus Cannon was playing very good RT. When it all comes out in the wash, the RESULTS will be that when Ryan hits FA his contract is going to reflect that in the view of knowledgeable football professionals, that he is a "very good NFL CB. Whether that is here or elswhere remains to be seen. I hope it's here.

So you can be late to THAT party as well.

 

[aluminum seats]

Here' the elephant in the rook: Brady

Despite how long HE thinks he can play, we can still see a bit of the sharpness coming off the blade. His long balls haven't been what they used to. He makes some, to be sure, but he's also been off target on several in the past few games, especially to Edelman. Now, Brady is locked up through the '17 season, IIRC, but after that? I know folks don't want to think about the post-Brady era, let alone TALK about it, but it will happen, and odds are it will be sooner than we think.

Right now New England has Jimmy G in the fold. I'd be holding off talk on trades until the team gets through THIS season. What happens if New England wins it all, and Gisele talks Tommy into hanging up his cleats? It's not that far-fetched a scenario. At some point, she's going to want him home as a full-time dad to the kids. So if the team trades Alladin early, and then Brady suddenly decides to retire?

Yeah, I know. I know. Crazy talk. Brady's gonna play forever, yadda yadda yadda. But teams need a contingency plan, and to my mind, New England would be foolish to trade Jimmy G before seeing how things play out with Brady next year at training camp.

YMMV, of course, but these sorts of scenarios need to be addressed by teams that have an edge and want to keep it.

Brady's long ball is probably the best it's been since Moss left.

Any "sharpness coming off the blade" is more just your perception that it SHOULD be coming off, but there's no evidence to this point to show that.

 

[Gumby]

Been saying this for some time now. Playing the compensatory picks game is nice because it can give you free picks but it also severely limits your flexibility to be involved in the first week(s) of FA.

Given the amount of cap space we have there is going to be some kind of move during FA. The rosters i'd watch most are either division rivals or teams we recently shared practices with. Those are the players we know particularly well and I could see BB & co. being comfortable giving out "bugger" FA contracts.

I think in another thread it was clearly pointed out that in the coming year pats are NOT going to lose more FAs than they gain. So it makes no sense to even think about gaming the comp system with players this year. One could argue they might have a multiyear plan to earn comp picks for 2-4 years then take one year to go hog wild with FAs and fill up the FA pipeline for the next 2-4 year cycle. A sort of inverse to the boom-bust theory of cap mgmt applied to FA/comp pick mgmt.

Could be that this strategy (or situation/happenstance) was also added motivation to trade guys like collins now, get a little something cause they wouldnt get a comp pick later anyway. Also could be pats have built up a war chest (cap room) to go big in FA to implement the strategy . but that hasnt been BB style to date, he usually grabs the week-2 more-cost-efficient FAs. Well see, i would really like to see what kind of guys BB picks up if he considers the spending restraints are off.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

I think DH and Marty are 1 and 2 with Butler being 3 and given the $$ they have...they will all still be here

Without Marty this year...we would have been in trouble the beginning of the year..and now with Gronk hurt.

Him alone may be worth 2 wins

 

[NG Pats Fan]

I have to leave this thread. Too many people saying they want to resign Logan Ry

I'm sure you have also stopped reading when very early on I wrote that Marcus Cannon was playing very good RT. When it all comes out in the wash, the RESULTS will be that when Ryan hits FA his contract is going to reflect that in the view of knowledgeable football professionals, that he is a "very good NFL CB. Whether that is here or elswhere remains to be seen. I hope it's here.

So you can be late to THAT party as well.

I think Marcus Cannon is very good, I've never said a bad word about him. I always thought cannon had talent to be a good starter.

Logan Ryan on the other hand, I could not disagree with you more. I really hope the patriots front office is smart enough not to bring him back next year. It won't be hard to find an upgrade over Logan Ryan. You "think " football professionals will offer Ryan a big contract, but you don't know. You don't. my prediction is Ryan will leave here and never be an NFL starter again, because he doesn't have enough talent, ability, ball skills. or physicality.

 

[luuked]

I have to leave this thread.
...
It won't be hard to find an upgrade from Logan Ryan. You "think " football professionals will offer Ryan a big contract, but you don't know. You don't. my prediction is Ryan will leave here and never be an NFL starter again, because he doesn't have enough talent, ability, ball skills. or physicality.

Ryan will get a nice mid-sized contract (whatever the market rate for a CB2 is) for another team. He is a solid corner no matter how often you and those of your silk want to make him sound like the worst player ever.

It's the Chandler Jones situation all over just on a different tier of skill. Ryan is a good enough player on a rookie contract, but I don't wanna pay the market rate for his performance. Keep in mind that I am not saying that both are on the same tier but simply that I don't wanna pay CB2 money for Ryan as much as I don't wanna pay Tier 1 pass rusher money for Jones.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

My biggest fear is that someone offers butler a poison pill contract and we lose him.

Every other free agent is completely replaceable, but not butler!

 

[borg]

To the "Extend Gronk Now" crowd.....have you not been paying attention to BB's methods the past 17 years?
With 3 years to go, Gronk's contract is no question the least of the team's worries. And given how the team manages Gronk's health, I highly doubt they think plunking down more guaranteed money to secure his services 4 years from now is a sound use of money.

 

[deroc5050]

The thing is there hasnt been no sharpening off the blade.. he hasn't dropped off at all and he is playing behind an average at best O line. OTOH you keep Jimmy G until the end of 2017 and then you make the biggest decision since Brady / Bledsoe.

If Brady in 2017 has another MVP like season, I honestly think Bill has to take a chance and resign Brady to a 3 year extention (yes he will be 43 at the end of the make believe extention) And franchise Jimmy G, then trade him IF Jimmy's trade value is still high.

If you see a dramatic drop off in 2017 for Brady at the age of 40 then you gotta cut bait. They will do whats best for the team.

From what I have seen of Brisset so far, I don't really like his game. I don't think Jacoby is the future starter for New England.

 

[deroc5050]

My biggest fear is that someone offers butler a poison pill contract and we lose him.

Every other free agent is completely replaceable, but not butler!

who is going to replace Hightower?