Onwenu Takes Paycut for 2026

[One-If-By-Sea]

Some here claiming he's one of the best in the game is flat embarressing.

I agree. Embarrassing. I think the Pats are still sorting out Wilson at Center, where will Lomu and Campbell play, etc., and with those issues partially resolved in 2026, the Pats will move on from Onwenu and Moses in 2027. With more right side mobility in 2027, the Pats will start introducing some outside zone, screen plays, etc. McDaniels has traditionally run some of these concepts, for example we are used to seeing screen plays multiple times per game. It is all a progression that is taking a bit longer because we are incorporating draft picks at the same time.

 

[Wozzy]

I've posted many times (but continues to get ignored by Owenu defenders) that execs don't really view Owenu as good as those delusional posters do. Some here claiming he's one of the best in the game is flat embarressing.

Top ten easily… probably top 7 or 8.

There’s two guards on every team, there’s a couple backups… so out of 100-115 interior linemen in the NFL top 8 isn’t bad… out of 64 total starters that’s still not bad. Plus he can play right tackle at a similarly high level.

Self hating Pats fans… it doesn’t matter how successful they are… we still suck.

 

[Wozzy]

All those 2024 extensions, in retrospect, was to make sure we spent to the salary floor. The only one that even kind of worked out has been Stevenson. and honestly, he's still making too much.

Stevenson, once he stopped fumbling, was one of the best three down backs in the league.

Our blocking could have been better, especially from FB, TE’s and the two rookie linemen. If it had been Rhamondre and Henderson would have posted a much higher rushing totals.

We’re back to late dynasty malaise, we have no talent, no weapons… yada yada ya.

 

[mayoclinic]

Top ten easily… probably top 7 or 8.

I'm not dissing on Onwenu, but ...

Peter Skoronski
Quinn Meinerz
Quenten Nelson
Joe Thuney
Grey Zabel
Trey Smith
Chris Lindstrom
Tyler Smith
Alijah Vera-Tucker
Sam Cosmi

That's 10 I would take over Onwenu.

Onwenu is an above-average RG with limited range. He is not a first tier IOL, or a foundational player.

 

[Wozzy]

I'm not dissing on Onwenu, but ...

Peter Skoronski
Quinn Meinerz
Quenten Nelson
Joe Thuney
Grey Zabel
Trey Smith
Chris Lindstrom
Tyler Smith
Alijah Vera-Tucker
Sam Cosmi

That's 10 I would take over Onwenu.

Onwenu is an above-average RG with limited range. He is not a first tier IOL, or a foundational player.

Quinn Meinerz
Quenten Nelson
Trey Smith
Chris Lindstrom

That’s about it…

I’m not taking Joe Thuney at his age over Onwenu.

 

[rkarp1]

Yes. I do understand what "unless he restructures means". You're the one with the reading comprehension issues. Because I didn't contradict what you stated as a definition.

You also don't understand that, contrary to the claims, Onwenu didn't rip up the old contract. They changed $6M of the salary to Signing bonus, adjusted the salary to $2.95M making it fully guaranteed, put in another 1.05M in guarantees bringing the total guaranteed money to $10M and included $2M in incentives. They did not add any void years.

If you actually understood English. Math or god forbid, Finances, you'd have understood that I was showing you that the AAV did change because of the restructure. Which is exactly what WOZZY stated when he said "The AAV for this year is 16.5M"

Thank you for showing everyone that YOU are the one with the issues, RKarp. Not Wozzy or Myself.

what you just posted is otherwise known as ripping up an old deal.
his prior deal had a weight clause in it. that was scrapped.
his prior deal had an offseason workout in it. that was scrapped (there are no more off seasons for Onwenu)
he does have a per game bonus, as he did prior.

Onwenu signed a deal 3 years ago, with an AAV estimated at $19m
Onwenu signed a new deal this past week, with an AAV of $10m
the AAV for this year is not $16.5M

I will repeat. tighten up your math and financial aptitude. and by all means, stop posting about either

 

[ahmed]

He could have said no. Could have told them to pay up or cut him.

I like that he likes his situation enough to choose this instead. Win-win.

I dislike these types of replies to cap maneuvering threads. I don't know why. Maybe because it is meaningless word salad? Or is it the assumption the player making such an adjustment automatically means he likes it here enough to change his pay?

 

[ahmed]

His cap hit was $17 million. No way was he getting that much in pay in the final year of his deal. He would have had like a $30 million cap hit if he was getting $16 million in salary.

That's not how that works. Cap is a function of how the team decides to amortize the contract. It does not mean it is magically twice the salary.

 

[rkarp1]

I dislike these types of replies to cap maneuvering threads. I don't know why. Maybe because it is meaningless word salad? Or is it the assumption the player making such an adjustment automatically means he likes it here enough to change his pay?

I would think Onwenu's representatives were allowed to test the waters before they signed this new deal.
maybe because of the lateness on when this unfolded, I have to assume they did not like what they found available out there.
signing this new deal with the Pats perhaps is the best deal they could find.
Onwenu secures $10m guaranteed.
Onwenu is a free agent next year, before turning 30

The Pats save $7.5m
The Pats gave themselves a potential attractive trade chip at the deadline depending on how their season unfolds.

 

[ahmed]

Every dollar in salary means a dollar of cap needs to be paid. There’s no magical way for cap to be cleared beyond paying it off. There’s no tax shelter in the Bahamas where you can hide spending, no loophole to make existing cap debt disappear. That’s not magic, that’s certainly not crap.

All you need to understand the “cap is crap” philosophy is to praise teams overspending and throwing away draft picks in a desperate attempt to win a ring.

Then once they run out of cap space, draft picks, have no talent and win 3 games… drop them like a hot potato and find a new team that’s just beginning to overspend and throw away draft picks in a desperate attempt to win a ring.

It’s really easy, because you’re not actually a fan of these teams.

While the cap is not crap, cap dollars have different value by virtue of the cap going up every year. As the cap goes up every year, the current cap dollar is significantly more valuable than a future cap dollar.

For example, if the cap goes up 10% every year, the current cap dollar is more valuable by 10% over each subsequent year's cap. It is the same concept of the net present value of money that companies use to calculate the value of their investments.

So the key to good cap management becomes unlocking the current value of a future cap dollar by wisely investing it before it becomes due but in a way that does not cripple you in the future. What makes it even better is the fact borrowing again future cap does not come with an additional bill in the form of a cap penalty (i.e., no equivelant of paying interest rate on a loan). So, essentially, tapping into future cap is like a 0% interest loan. You have to pay it back eventually but you are doing it with money that is worth less while you would have invested that money.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

It is the same concept of the net present value of money that companies use to calculate the value of their investments.

Isn't net present value of investments related to inflation?

 

[DaBruinz]

it has been reported there are no incentives

BS. Mike Reiss reported that there are $2M in incentives. I'll take HIS word over your claims every day.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/48913662/what-aj-brown-patriots-new-england-philadelphia-eagles-trade

 

[DaBruinz]

Clearly...
That's why he took the pay cut, cause he could of just asked for his release and made more in the open market.
Players just love to give up 7 mil, cause hey who needs money anyways...

How many times did Amendola take a pay cut? Some guys like where they are at in terms of the organization and are willing to adjust their contracts to stay. Not everyone is driven by money. But, that's lost on you.

 

[Wozzy]

While the cap is not crap, cap dollars have different value by virtue of the cap going up every year. As the cap goes up every year, the current cap dollar is significantly more valuable than a future cap dollar.

For example, if the cap goes up 10% every year, the current cap dollar is more valuable by 10% over each subsequent year's cap. It is the same concept of the net present value of money that companies use to calculate the value of their investments.

So the key to good cap management becomes unlocking the current value of a future cap dollar by wisely investing it before it becomes due but in a way that does not cripple you in the future. What makes it even better is the fact borrowing again future cap does not come with an additional bill in the form of a cap penalty (i.e., no equivelant of paying interest rate on a loan). So, essentially, tapping into future cap is like a 0% interest loan. You have to pay it back eventually but you are doing it with money that is worth less while you would have invested that money.

While I agree with what you’re saying, if you don’t budget your money people can still wildly overspend… way past the point of cap increase.

Also salaries are directly tied to league revenue, the more the cap goes up, so do the salaries. This is why teams that want long term succession should spend to the cap, not over it. That was the Patriot Way.

 

[rkarp1]

BS. Mike Reiss reported that there are $2M in incentives. I'll take HIS word over your claims every day.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/48913662/what-aj-brown-patriots-new-england-philadelphia-eagles-trade

the bonuses have already been reported as "up to $800k in per game bonuses"
the weight clause incentive was dropped

 

[rkarp1]

How many times did Amendola take a pay cut? Some guys like where they are at in terms of the organization and are willing to adjust their contracts to stay. Not everyone is driven by money. But, that's lost on you.

I wouldn't say anything is lost on anyone
I think it is more likely that Onwenu was driven for the best deal, and after being allowed to do some due dilligence, his agents found that the $10m was the best deal to be had. Onwenu now has a clear path with playing a lot of snaps and put out some great tape, and
more than likely, Onwenu will after the year, go into free agency and look forward to finding a team that values size and strength over athleticism and movement with their OL scheme.

 

[Wozzy]

BS. Mike Reiss reported that there are $2M in incentives. I'll take HIS word over your claims every day.

Agreed, you never assume that the number you’re hearing on the day a new contract drops is correct… on either the high or low side.

Inevitability there are almost always incentives not initially reported tagged on there.

 

[rkarp1]

Agreed, you never assume that the number you’re hearing on the day a new contract drops is correct… on either the high or low side.

Inevitability there are almost always incentives not initially reported tagged on there.

just asking, have you given up on your "Onwenu did not take a $7m pay cut"?

 

[DaBruinz]

I'm not dissing on Onwenu, but ...

Peter Skoronski
Quinn Meinerz
Quenten Nelson
Joe Thuney
Grey Zabel
Trey Smith
Chris Lindstrom
Tyler Smith
Alijah Vera-Tucker
Sam Cosmi

That's 10 I would take over Onwenu.

Onwenu is an above-average RG with limited range. He is not a first tier IOL, or a foundational player.

Skoronki was slightly worse against the Pass rush last year
Zabel allowed 2 sacks, 4 QB hits, and 18 hurries on 553 pass blocking snaps. That's 1 pressure every 23 snaps Worse than Onwenu.
Lindstrom was WAY worse than Onwenu against the pass rush.
Sam Cosmi was injured a good portion of the year, taking only 545 snaps in total. He had 325 pass blocking snaps. He allowed 2 sacks and 9 hurries. That's 11 pressures on 325 snaps or 1 pressure every 29.5 snaps. Which was slightly worse than Onwenu.
Trey Smith 1 sack, 2 QB Hits, and 1 Hurries on 459 pass blocking snaps. That's 1 pressure every 28.7 snaps.
Quinn Meinerz allowed 2 sacks, 5 QB Hits and 18 hurries on 709 pass blocking snaps. 1 pressure every 28.4 snaps.
Tyler Smith? 3 sacks and 23 hurries on 700 pass blocking snaps. That's 1 pressure every 27 snaps. Worse than Onwenu.

Of the list, only Quentin Nelson and Joe Thuney were better than Onwenu against the Pass rush.

Onwenu's "limited range" is only a factor when asking him to pull for outside runs.

I'm one of Onwenu's biggest supporters and I haven't said he was ELITE. There are only 3 ELITE pass blocking Guards currently. Thuney, Nelson and Damione Lewis. Onwenu is, however, 2nd tier and the top of that tier.

 

[rkarp1]

here is his deal

Mike Onwenu | NFL Contracts & Salaries | Spotrac.com

Mike Onwenu signed a 1 year, $10,000,000 contract with the New England Patriots with an average annual salary of $10,000,000.

www.spotrac.com

the offseason work out bonus was already paid with the offseason already over
per game bonus
"up to" $10m

just as I said