maineman209
Veteran Starter w/Big Long Term Deal
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It may be a lot easier knowing that his last 6 seasons have produced yearly averages of 115 catches for about 1500 yards and 11 touchdowns.
One can make a pretty strong case that he’s the best WR in the game.
Allen, HT, and Gronk would add about 23m in cap space alone, and while it’s not realistic to expect all three to be gone, we could certainly see 2/3.
Adding the roughly $23m gained from shedding those three to Miguel's current estimate of $18m for the Pats 2019 starting cap space yields roughly $41m. That seems like a lot, but consider that also leaves the Pats with only Hollister, Izzo (IR) and Anderson (PS) under contract at TE. Creating that "roster hole" by shedding Allen outright, instead of extending him at a lower AAV, may be something the Pats would prefer to avoid, if possible.
The "roster hole" factor is also a consideration wrt which in-house free agents to re-sign:
- Trey Flowers
- Trent Brown
- M. Brown and Shelton
- Hogan, Dorsett and Patterson.
- JMAC and Jon Jones.
- Gost and Ryan Allen.
Aside from Flowers and T. Brown, none of these other cap hit are likely to be large, individually. However, all these "little" cap hits added together might total $20M (my own, relatively low-ball estimates, and NOT including Hogan or Shelton).
And then, because the Pats have so many top-100 draft picks this year, rookie signings may cost another $5m-$6m (and that's just those who would be above the top-51 cutoff line).
Then there's the $5m-$6m regular season fund for LTBEs and in-season injury replacements.
So, suddenly, there's $30m-$32m of that $41m used up - before re-signing Flowers or Trent Brown, and before signing any other external free agents.
IOW, absorbing AB's $12.6m cap hit definitely means shorting the roster somewhere else.