Onwenu Takes Paycut for 2026

[rkarp1]

Yeah, he's now guaranteed $10m this year, instead of $17.5m that wasn't guaranteed. One thing I'm wondering about is why have the $6m as a signing bonus instead of salary? It's not amortized so it all counts against the 2026 cap.

he prob got the $6m immediately
if they put the $6m into "base salary", and guaranteed all of the $new money this season, Onwenu would have been paid weekly

 

[rkarp1]

Pretty sure they did (before this deal)/ 7.5M was already dead and paid for). The 17.5M he was getting paid besides that on the other hand wouldn't have counted until he made the 53 man roster I am pretty sure. I don't think June 1 was the deadline. I think it was the 53 Man roster under current rules. If I am wrong someone can correct me. Now with the new deal that is not the case.

I do not think Onwenu is happy, unless he knew for a fact he was never going to get all of that 17.5M extra. If he knew that was off the table, he is probably happy to get some secured cash. If he believed he was going to get it this year then told no he is probably not that that happy. Yes he is protected from a preseason injury situation, but he only needed to stay healthy a few months for it to lock in.

The timing of this is interesting as it is after the free agency smoke has cleared. If they were planning on cutting him he would have surely preferred for it to happen earlier. I think we can all agree a pre june 1 cut or pre 53 man roster cut is not the way he would want to hit free agency.

So either he always knew this was in the cards, and it was just hashing out the details, or it came to a head and he probably is less than happy right now, but at least has the benefit getting paid today. That's something.

I agree with you, and believe you are correct, on everything you posted

 

[Huckleberry1]

does this mean you believe Onwenu will be here next season? after they cut him $7m this season?

Yes.

 

[Brady85-23]

I think the Barmore contract is okay. 17M, 23.6M and 23.6M cap hit for the next 3 years for his level of play isn't bad. Overall it was a 4 year deal worth 84M isn't insane for a player like him. And this year a 17.1M cap hit a deal. If they want to apply pressure or move on from him next year or the year after make sense. For this year i would take that and be happy.

Next year is a 23.6M cap hit with 7.6M in dead cap. They can certainly consider doing something then if they want to play hard ball. That i think he is worth the 16M of cap if his play holds. But we will see. He has not been an amazing locker room guy for what that is worth. Not terrible but not amazing.

The year after is interesting... final year of his deal is 23.6M again with just a 3.6M in dead cap and he is 29 year olds. Paying him 20M then will be a very interesting choice. You would need to consider where the salary cap is, his age, his play. This could be a year to cut bait and take a very modest 3.6M hair cut to save 20M or redo the deal into his final year. I think this is more the year they decide what to do. I would not be one to pound the table that says he needs to be a life time Patriot if it comes to that.

I personally don't see much in the way of easy cap savings this year now after this deal... unless they cut Douglas. That saves 3.6M and i think it is a possibility.

I assume Boutte is gone in the Brown deal.

Brown, Doubs, Hollins Williams all should be locks. Hopefully Williams makes a yr 2 jump. Maybe they want to give Chism or someone else more of a look. The fact they brought in so many WRs means they are not happy with their depth. You may ask who is their 5th WR if they do that. But I question if he is even worth the 3.6M. They probably will have 2 TEs or 1 TE and a FB on the field along with an RB much of the time anyway.

IMO a guy like Raridon has a chance to make an impact as there are catches up for grabs. I could easily see him having a 300 yard rookie year. I don't think we will see a lot of 3 WR looks and Douglas doesn't play STs.

I don't think the Baremore deal is a great one
He very well could become better after another year removed from blood clots we'll see. I thought tonga played better before he got hurt

 

[patfanken]

Here's how I see all this after reading all 5 pages.

When the Pats did Owenu's post rookie deal he was an OG on the rise. Going into that FA period he was considered the top interior OL available by many given his age and production. He was signed to what many considered a perfectly reasonable market deal, even though several here thought it was too high, but no one thought it was radically too high. People who would have been fine with a $14mm/deal freaked out with a $17MM one. Owenu got a deal that assumed he was on the track to be a perennial all pro and one of the top 5 OG's in the league.

Instead he got fat, and had 2 very solid seasons where he was good, but not THAT good that his production equaled what he making. This deal is a good one too for Owenu. I think everyone knows that this staff would be comfortable cutting Owenu during camp if one of the rookies of FA vets looks like he might be able to replace what Owenu could give them in a nanosecond. Since NOTHING was guaranteed in this year's contract, it looked like a smart deal to take the immediate $7mm payout and have the rest of the 10MM guaranteed than take the risk of an injury or something give the Pats an option of simply releasing him and saving all $17MM. Now he has a full year and total motivation to come in positively svelte and play his best football going into another shot at the apple.

If it becomes clear that he is "just" a solid pro starter, then you can resign him to what that production should pay in the off season, or if he does play to an all pro level you can make a decision to extend him again or move on and find another OG who has the potential to be a great OG. Personally, at my age and medical history, I'm just worrying about THIS upcoming season.

The cap is ABSOUTELY not crap. The bill eventually comes due. It came for us in 2019 and it comes for everyone who puts together really good teams. You cannot pay everyone on a good team. Rookies have to pay their dues, but their time DOES come to be paid. We have forgotten the ultimate truth about the salary cap era. For every dollar you payout to a player, you have one less dollar for everyone else. You can devise angles to delay the bill for a few years, but you cannot delay it forever without taking steps to reduce it.
The $90MM dead cap hit to Miami for Tua is REAL. and so are the myriads of other hits that teams are encountering. Felgar has sold you a fraud and if you believe it then you probably believe that everything that comes out of Trump"s mouth is the absolute truth. OOPS! Did I just do that? Sorry for the slip.

 

[rkarp1]

Here's how I see all this after reading all 5 pages.

When the Pats did Owenu's post rookie deal he was an OG on the rise. Going into that FA period he was considered the top interior OL available by many given his age and production. He was signed to what many considered a perfectly reasonable market deal, even though several here thought it was too high, but no one thought it was radically too high. People who would have been fine with a $14mm/deal freaked out with a $17MM one. Owenu got a deal that assumed he was on the track to be a perennial all pro and one of the top 5 OG's in the league.

Instead he got fat, and had 2 very solid seasons where he was good, but not THAT good that his production equaled what he making. This deal is a good one too for Owenu. I think everyone knows that this staff would be comfortable cutting Owenu during camp if one of the rookies of FA vets looks like he might be able to replace what Owenu could give them in a nanosecond. Since NOTHING was guaranteed in this year's contract, it looked like a smart deal to take the immediate $7mm payout and have the rest of the 10MM guaranteed than take the risk of an injury or something give the Pats an option of simply releasing him and saving all $17MM. Now he has a full year and total motivation to come in positively svelte and play his best football going into another shot at the apple.

If it becomes clear that he is "just" a solid pro starter, then you can resign him to what that production should pay in the off season, or if he does play to an all pro level you can make a decision to extend him again or move on and find another OG who has the potential to be a great OG. Personally, at my age and medical history, I'm just worrying about THIS upcoming season.

The cap is ABSOUTELY not crap. The bill eventually comes due. It came for us in 2019 and it comes for everyone who puts together really good teams. You cannot pay everyone on a good team. Rookies have to pay their dues, but their time DOES come to be paid. We have forgotten the ultimate truth about the salary cap era. For every dollar you payout to a player, you have one less dollar for everyone else. You can devise angles to delay the bill for a few years, but you cannot delay it forever without taking steps to reduce it.
The $90MM dead cap hit to Miami for Tua is REAL. and so are the myriads of other hits that teams are encountering. Felgar has sold you a fraud and if you believe it then you probably believe that everything that comes out of Trump"s mouth is the absolute truth. OOPS! Did I just do that? Sorry for the slip.

Onwenu's bill was wiped clean. not coming due
you are mixing up cap is crap with poor management decisions, which in 2019, Bill made in spades.
you dont have to pay everyone to be good, only the right ones.
and draft well, which is where Bill failed, and so far, Wolf is thriving

 

[JoeSixPat]

Here's how I see all this after reading all 5 pages.

When the Pats did Owenu's post rookie deal he was an OG on the rise. Going into that FA period he was considered the top interior OL available by many given his age and production. He was signed to what many considered a perfectly reasonable market deal, even though several here thought it was too high, but no one thought it was radically too high. People who would have been fine with a $14mm/deal freaked out with a $17MM one. Owenu got a deal that assumed he was on the track to be a perennial all pro and one of the top 5 OG's in the league.

Instead he got fat, and had 2 very solid seasons where he was good, but not THAT good that his production equaled what he making. This deal is a good one too for Owenu. I think everyone knows that this staff would be comfortable cutting Owenu during camp if one of the rookies of FA vets looks like he might be able to replace what Owenu could give them in a nanosecond. Since NOTHING was guaranteed in this year's contract, it looked like a smart deal to take the immediate $7mm payout and have the rest of the 10MM guaranteed than take the risk of an injury or something give the Pats an option of simply releasing him and saving all $17MM. Now he has a full year and total motivation to come in positively svelte and play his best football going into another shot at the apple.

If it becomes clear that he is "just" a solid pro starter, then you can resign him to what that production should pay in the off season, or if he does play to an all pro level you can make a decision to extend him again or move on and find another OG who has the potential to be a great OG. Personally, at my age and medical history, I'm just worrying about THIS upcoming season.

The cap is ABSOUTELY not crap. The bill eventually comes due. It came for us in 2019 and it comes for everyone who puts together really good teams. You cannot pay everyone on a good team. Rookies have to pay their dues, but their time DOES come to be paid. We have forgotten the ultimate truth about the salary cap era. For every dollar you payout to a player, you have one less dollar for everyone else. You can devise angles to delay the bill for a few years, but you cannot delay it forever without taking steps to reduce it.
The $90MM dead cap hit to Miami for Tua is REAL. and so are the myriads of other hits that teams are encountering. Felgar has sold you a fraud and if you believe it then you probably believe that everything that comes out of Trump"s mouth is the absolute truth. OOPS! Did I just do that? Sorry for the slip.

Right - I think we all agree Owenu, even if you think he's been a good RG, wasn't worth a $25 million cap hit - though I suppose the way the old contract was structured, if he doesn't/can't play he doesn't get paid.

Now he's got guaranteed money at a salary that I think is fitting for his skills. Even if he's considered a big "fat" OG, if he has good technique that can make him a big fat immoveable object on the line.

I think the big thing this season is to see how Wilson does at Center, as that can be an anchor or a weak link - and if it's a weak link the guards play suffers and if the guards play suffers the tackles play suffers and thus, the QB suffers.

The jury is still out on Wilson though - if you liked him at LG last year (and I did not) you'll probably LOVE him at Center - but we will see.

If Owenu stays healthy and has a good season he'll do fine in free agency if he doesn't get resigned by the Pats - but I can see them letting him walk next year and moving a younger guy in at RG. (I can also see the potential where Wilson does as well at Center as he did at LG, and we wind up looking to upgrade at C or RG in the draft or elsewhere.

But replacing Owenu next year with a younger, cheaper, more fit player is an option if he has a good season as they will be looking to extend Maye next offseason too and won't be looking to pay a RG anything close to the $25 mil he was costing on the cap this year.

 

[mgteich]

Right - I think we all agree Owenu, even if you think he's been a good RG, wasn't worth a $25 million cap hit - though I suppose the way the old contract was structured, if he doesn't/can't play he doesn't get paid.

Now he's got guaranteed money at a salary that I think is fitting for his skills. Even if he's considered a big "fat" OG, if he has good technique that can make him a big fat immoveable object on the line.

I think the big thing this season is to see how Wilson does at Center, as that can be an anchor or a weak link - and if it's a weak link the guards play suffers and if the guards play suffers the tackles play suffers and thus, the QB suffers.

The jury is still out on Wilson though - if you liked him at LG last year (and I did not) you'll probably LOVE him at Center - but we will see.

If Owenu stays healthy and has a good season he'll do fine in free agency if he doesn't get resigned by the Pats - but I can see them letting him walk next year and moving a younger guy in at RG. (I can also see the potential where Wilson does as well at Center as he did at LG, and we wind up looking to upgrade at C or RG in the draft or elsewhere.

But replacing Owenu next year with a younger, cheaper, more fit player is an option if he has a good season as they will be looking to extend Maye next offseason too and won't be looking to pay a RG anything close to the $25 mil he was costing on the cap this year.

Onwneu's cost for 2026 was $17.5M. It is now $10M. I doubt that the team was ever going to pay him $17.5M. They might have simply cut him and sign a vet.

There is absolutely no need to decide whether he is worth $25M. No one will offer that amount.

$25M would be a $7.5M over what he would have earned this year if there had been no haircut.

 

[mgteich]

Better it be for extending Gonzo.

There is plenty of 2026 and 2027 cap money to sign Brown, extend Gonzalez AND sign someone else.

 

[mgteich]

This is a nice development and pretty smart from Onwenu's perspective. He was a top cut candidate of mine, not because he is bad (far from it) but he is getting paid like a top guard that his performance does not match. If he got cut, other would not come close to paying what the Pats were.

Also creates more cap for for the team, now let's go get AJB and Josh Sweat

Ok, so we are saying that Onwenu thinks that he isn't worth $10M on the open market. That's a player who doesn't have a lot of confidence in himself. Surely, we need to stop calling him a top 10 OG. Neither Onwenu nor the team believes that or his bonus would have been higher.

 

[Zuma]

Ok, so we are saying that Onwenu thinks that he isn't worth $10M on the open market. That's a player who doesn't have a lot of confidence in himself. Surely, we need to stop calling him a top 10 OG. Neither Onwenu nor the team believes that or his bonus would have been higher.

Maybe he likes the Patriots.

 

[mayoclinic]

The cap is over $300M, and will keep going up. $15-20M AAV is now a mid-level contract.

The reality right now is that top QBs get around $55M AAV, top WRs and EDGE players $40M, CBs > $30M.

Onwenu's $19M AAV was a massive overpay in 2024, far less so today. As of right now:

Tyler Linderbaum: 3/$81M, $27 AAV
Tyler Smith: 4/$96M, $24 AAV
Trey Smith: 4/$94M, $23.5 AAV
Chris Lindstrom: 5/$102.5M, $20.5 AAV
Quenton Nelson: 4/$80M, $20 AAV
Robert Hunt: 5/$100M, $20 AAV
Aaron Banks: 4/$77M, $19.25 AAV
Sam Cosmi: 4/$74M, $18.5 AAV
Quinn Meinerz: 4/$72M, $18 AAV
Creed Humphrey: 4/$72M, $18 AAV
Joe Thuney: 2/$35M, $17.5 AAV
Will Fries: 5/$87.5, $17.5 AAV
AVT: 3/$42M, $14M AAV

AVT is a massive bargain if he works well, his contract allows an easy out if he doesn't. Just over half of Tyler Linderbaum's deal.

Obviously this is very crude and the details matter, but it gives some idea of the IOL direction.

I expect Peter Skoronski ($19M 5th year option for 2027) to get upwards for 4/$100M. He could possibly become the first $30M AAV IOL. By that time the cap will probably be upwards of $350M. After Jeffery Simmons, he is the best player currently on Tennessee 's roster.

I expect Aaron Brewer to get $24M AAV or more when he gets a new deal.

OTs have not yet broken the $30M AAV barrier, maxcing out around $20M. I expect that tp change soon. Tristan Wirfs, Penei Sewell and the likes are relative bargains.

The Pats have Will Campbell, Caleb Lomu (once signed), Jared Wilson and AVT under low cost. They will have an above-average OL at below-average cost.