Breaking: we have cap space after settling grievances

patsinthesnow said:

Njoku is your example of an inconsistent young TE that will play better later in his career (Martellus Bennett, Eric Ebron).

I’d make the deal for a later pick & have Asiasi & Njoku work the seams with Cam. Have Keene develop as an H-back move type.

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Screw that malcontent. Breaks his wrist and has a bad season. Instead of ponying up and trying to bounce back and help the team he cries like a baby. Don’t want that guy here even for a 7th.

Angers me we didn't have this cap earlier

Patriot Missile said:

Screw that malcontent. Breaks his wrist and has a bad season. Instead of ponying up and trying to bounce back and help the team he cries like a baby. Don’t want that guy here even for a 7th.

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we could of said the same about Corey Dillon

Hyped said:

Great friggin' news!

I think we should:

- Give Cam a little bonus. He's only friggin' making a million or so...ridiculous.....I know...he signed the contract, but the Pats gave Bennett a raise last year after trading for him.

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Not sure if serious....

Hyped said:

- Extend Thuney long term.

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I doubt cap space in 2020 is the driving impediment to this deal. The cap hit of a big money contract is usually fairly low in year 1 and while I know the Patriots only had a couple hundred thousand available, I don't see this new space as significantly changing the dynamic with Thuney. As was already pointed out in this thread, a new deal for Thuney would probably have reduced his 2020 cap hit.

DT Snacks Harrison or Mike Daniels would be ideal; even DE Everson Griffen/Golden if the money works.

Patriot Missile said:

Screw that malcontent. Breaks his wrist and has a bad season. Instead of ponying up and trying to bounce back and help the team he cries like a baby. Don’t want that guy here even for a 7th.

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Sometimes being a malcontent is a function of the location as much as (if not moreso than) the player himself. He's hardly the first guy in NFL history to get antsy as he approaches that final year of the rookie deal.

Deus Irae said:

Brown got $5 million dollars in the settlement. He probably shouldn't have settled, but that was his choice. Nonetheless, the Patriots didn't "win" that grievance.

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If Brown settled for $5 million, then the Patriots are also likely to be getting another $5 million or so credit on their 2021 cap as well. As I remember, Brown counted $10 million against the cap last year and was counting $5 million against the cap this season.

It was a smart move by the Patriots to pay Brown a 3rd of what they possibly owed him if he won his grievance. Brown might just need the cash at this point.

XLIX said:

Sometimes being a malcontent is a function of the location as much as (if not moreso than) the player himself. He's hardly the first guy in NFL history to get antsy as he approaches that final year of the rookie deal.

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He’s got Faker Mayfield as his QB and lives in Cleveland give him a break

I think Thuney will be the next domino to fall, though I have no idea how it will resolve itself. There a a number of possibilities.

a. They trade him outright. That will create about $15MM more in cap space, AND likely add a 2nd or 3rd round pick to our larder.

The Pats have a number of possible adequate replacements, who although they might not be AS good as Thuney, could fill the position well enough that it is NOT a weakness.

Perhaps a trade to the Browns for their unhappy TE plus a 4th or 5th round pick. I liked "snow's" analysis for how Njoku would fit with the 2 draft picks we took. The more I read about Keene the more he seems to be the FB of the future. Eventually perhaps a better, more athletic and position flexible version of James Devlin.

b. We extend Thuney. I would be just a pleased to see this scenario happen. It would probably add another $5MM or so to our cap space, giving us the luxury of having enough room to add a Harrison to the DL.

Extending Thuney does NOT require 2020 cap money. Such a transaction would result in considerable additional cap money availability.

Hyped said:

Great friggin' news!

I think we should:

- Give Cam a little bonus. He's only friggin' making a million or so...ridiculous.....I know...he signed the contract, but the Pats gave Bennett a raise last year after trading for him.
- Extend Thuney long term.
- Sign some extra competition....

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patsinthesnow said:

Njoku is your example of an inconsistent young TE that will play better later in his career (Martellus Bennett, Eric Ebron).

I’d make the deal for a later pick & have Asiasi & Njoku work the seams with Cam. Have Keene develop as an H-back move type.

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Not that I have watched a lot of Browns games but Njoku's main issue seem to be his inconsistent hands. I don't think this was ever a consistent issue for Ebron or Bennett.

EDIT: Yeah, looks like I wasn't watching enough early Ebron when I wrote that.

As said in the Njoku thread.. if he can be had for a pick swap or a fifth round pick there is no harm at all at seeing whats there.

Happy the Hernandez and AB grievances are now finally a done deal. The added cap space gives them more or less the amount they usually go into a season with including some room to make the usual moves.

Everything is coming together.

luuked said:

Not that I have watched a lot of Browns games but Njoku's main issue seem to be his inconsistent hands. I don't think this was ever a consistent issue for Ebron or Bennett.

As said in the Njoku thread.. if he can be had for a pick swap or a fifth round pick there is no harm at all at seeing whats there.

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It definitely was for Ebron; I know that for a fact. However, he did improve.

ChrisR2223 said:

He’s got Faker Mayfield as his QB and lives in Cleveland give him a break

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That's the point I was making. Just because he's not happy in Cleveland doesn't mean he would automatically be a malcontent elsewhere.

ChrisR2223 said:

Angers me we didn't have this cap earlier

we could of said the same about Corey Dillon

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Not even close. Dillon crushed it every year. He was a one man show that brought it rain or shine no matter how bad his team was. He endured a lot more losing. Njoku is an entitled newb imo.

Great, now BB will continue to rebuild, or should I say tweak the team for whenever it is time to compete.

Go BB

Go Pats

Palm Beach Pats Fan said:

Vs. AB and vs. the muderer.

Well, at least after SETTLING them !

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You should fix title then.

XLIX said:

Sometimes being a malcontent is a function of the location as much as (if not moreso than) the player himself. He's hardly the first guy in NFL history to get antsy as he approaches that final year of the rookie deal.

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Hardly the first guy is right, but let’s be real. Usually players that ask/demand trades are really good players whose performance have exceeded their contract. This guy has done squat except run a really fast 40 a few years ago.

Hey, Captain Stone, do you think if Brady knew we would have this Cap Space he wouldn't have bailed out from the Patriots? My position is that he would have said, "bye-bye Patriots."

Kenneth Sims said:

If Brown settled for $5 million, then the Patriots are also likely to be getting another $5 million or so credit on their 2021 cap as well. As I remember, Brown counted $10 million against the cap last year and was counting $5 million against the cap this season..

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I was wrong. There will not be a 2021 credit. Brown did have a $10 million 2019 cap charge, but $ 5 million of it was LTBE performance bonuses which obviously were never earned with Brown being cut after 1 game. The Patriots got credit for that $5 million as an offset to other earned bonuses when the league calculated the Patriots adjusted 2020 cap.

It’s doubtful the Patriots do anything with Thuney’s contract. It would be foolish to turn salary into signing bonus at this point because of the possibility of the season being canceled or shortened. $8 million should be enough space to cover IR replacements, players 52 and 53, game day PS promotions, and the practice squad. More cap space will be created by cheaper players making the roster instead of higher salaried players at cutdown (i.e Ocwenu and Coe making the team instead of Eluemunor and Wise would create $3 million additional cap space). If they need more, they could adjust Gilmore’s contract.

This is good. Hernandez cap bs is finally over. Honestly they should really try to make a play for a receiver or Clowney