Belichick's Cap Magic

[mgteich]

The patriots have over $5M in cap room, the "normal" amount to have available at this point to deal with in-season contingencies (per Miguel).

The likely places that we can create cap room would be by extensions to the contracts of Van Noy, Hightower and/or Devin McCourty. Extending Thuney would cost cap money, but could be offset by an extension to one of the previous three.

In addition, there are some relatively minor restructuring possibilities.

 

[Hyped]

TBH, I wouldn't extend DMac...and for Hightower/KVN...I say let them play out their contracts for a bit. Love all players, but don't see those three guys on the roster in 5 years.

 

[mgteich]

Why is the test 5 years? I think that it is more reasonable to focus on 2019-2021.

I would give McCourty a 1-2 year extension in a heartbeat, perhaps with a void year added.

As far as Van Noy, he is in his contract year, and is our best LB, and is 28 years old. If we can, we should sign him to a 3 year extension, or longer. BB doesn't wait to the end on players that he wants to keep. If we wait, Van Noy will have every incentive to go for the very big payday elsewhere, instead only a big payday from the patriots now.

TBH, I wouldn't extend DMac...and for Hightower/KVN...I say let them play out their contracts for a bit. Love all players, but don't see those three guys on the roster in 5 years.

 

[patsrj]

If there is no emergency during the season or a Gronk return, there is no cap reason for the extensions, but one for Dmac would be great
I also have the feeling that somebody will overpay KVN..

 

[p8ryts]

The patriots have over $5M in cap room, the "normal" amount to have available at this point to deal with in-season contingencies (per Miguel).

The likely places that we can create cap room would be by extensions to the contracts of Van Noy, Hightower and/or Devin McCourty. Extending Thuney would cost cap money, but could be offset by an extension to one of the previous three.

In addition, there are some relatively minor restructuring possibilities.

In Bill I trust

 

[1960Pats]

Belichick and Co. are magical in every aspect of football. Why not with the salary cap?

 

[patfanken]

I wish the guys who are saying the Pats gave AB a 15MM contract would check the facts underneath the agent bravado. We got an elite top 5 WR for $6MM on a one year prove it deal with some baggage (even more than we expected). Meanwhile Atlanta just signed an elite top 5 WR for TWENTY-FIVE MILLION and no baggage.

I doubt very much that AB gets a second year under his current contract. The only way he stays is some kind of extension that wipes away the $20MM+ cap hit is due in 2020. In the end I believe he will regain some measure of his reputation back after contributing (very quietly) to the Pats offense, and then move on.

But for anyone to think that AB is ANYTHING but a bargain isn't getting the true picture

As for McCourty, he is coming to the end, not only in our minds but his own. Devin has shown he has a future far beyond being just a football player. If Tom is a year to year guy, so is Devin. He shows no signs of even wanting an extension. I say leave it alone.

As for Mr February - I'd like to see him be Mr September, October, Nov, or December for a change before I extend his deal. They obviously love him, so if he gave them a team friendly deal I'd do it.

As for KVN - I'd extend him if I had the cap space. He's fast becoming part of the NE community. I don't think he ask for the last dollar

The other LB I'd mention is Jaime Collins. Assuming we see more of the same each game, He's a guy I'd like to keep around another 2 or 3 years. But that will have to wait because of where we are with the cap.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

I think DMac and JMac both call it a career after this year, especially if it delivers #7. Maybe Slater too. That's lots of leadership to replace all at once, but they have all had great runs.

 

[Patstastic]

Safety, pass rusher, tight end, and nose tackle need to be a priority next draft/offseason.

 

[bags27]

I wish the guys who are saying the Pats gave AB a 15MM contract would check the facts underneath the agent bravado. We got an elite top 5 WR for $6MM on a one year prove it deal with some baggage (even more than we expected). Meanwhile Atlanta just signed an elite top 5 WR for TWENTY-FIVE MILLION and no baggage.

I doubt very much that AB gets a second year under his current contract. The only way he stays is some kind of extension that wipes away the $20MM+ cap hit is due in 2020. In the end I believe he will regain some measure of his reputation back after contributing (very quietly) to the Pats offense, and then move on.

But for anyone to think that AB is ANYTHING but a bargain isn't getting the true picture

As for McCourty, he is coming to the end, not only in our minds but his own. Devin has shown he has a future far beyond being just a football player. If Tom is a year to year guy, so is Devin. He shows no signs of even wanting an extension. I say leave it alone.

As for Mr February - I'd like to see him be Mr September, October, Nov, or December for a change before I extend his deal. They obviously love him, so if he gave them a team friendly deal I'd do it.

As for KVN - I'd extend him if I had the cap space. He's fast becoming part of the NE community. I don't think he ask for the last dollar

The other LB I'd mention is Jaime Collins. Assuming we see more of the same each game, He's a guy I'd like to keep around another 2 or 3 years. But that will have to wait because of where we are with the cap.

+1. But, FWIW, Mr. February was absolutely dominant last Sunday.

 

[Hyped]

Why is the test 5 years? I think that it is more reasonable to focus on 2019-2021.

I would give McCourty a 1-2 year extension in a heartbeat, perhaps with a void year added.

As far as Van Noy, he is in his contract year, and is our best LB, and is 28 years old. If we can, we should sign him to a 3 year extension, or longer. BB doesn't wait to the end on players that he wants to keep. If we wait, Van Noy will have every incentive to go for the very big payday elsewhere, instead only a big payday from the patriots now.

5 years was just an arbitrary number I picked. DMac is 32 years old now and plays a demanding position....so a 1-2 year extension with a voidable year is good for me. As for KVN, didn't we sign him recently? I seem to recall us extending him in maybe 2016-2017? And for Hightower, the man runs through 300 pound offensive linemen.....love me some HT....but don't want to be on the hook paying big money for someone on I/R.

In short, I wouldn't aggressively extend those three just because I want Thuney under a reasonable contract. We are paying Thuney (or at least going to try to back up the Brinks truck for him) in March....doing it now would probably only save us ~3-4M in annual cap space over the life of the contract, IMO.

 

[NashuaPats]

The more I learn about the NFL salary cap, the more I learn how little I understand it.

 

[Pat the Pats Fan]

I would like to see KVN wear a Pats jersey for several more years. To me, he's a newer version of Vrabel and maybe Ninkovich, a player picked up from another team that blossomed once in our system.
I think McCourty will move on after next season, or maybe this season.

 

[farn]

KVN is the player I’d like to see resign for reasonable $$$. I don’t know what his value is at this point, monetarily, but I am well aware of his value to this D.

 

[n6249c]

I would like to see KVN wear a Pats jersey for several more years. To me, he's a newer version of Vrabel and maybe Ninkovich, a player picked up from another team that blossomed once in our system.
I think McCourty will move on after next season, or maybe this season.

I agree about KVN.

I don’t expect either McCouty twin will make a move unless the other brother does also, or the team forces their hand. I think they had too much fun winning the Lombardi together to forego their best chance at doing it again, and that’s with the Pats.

 

[supafly]

TBH, I wouldn't extend DMac...and for Hightower/KVN...I say let them play out their contracts for a bit. Love all players, but don't see those three guys on the roster in 5 years.

I don’t see all of those three guys here in 2 years, let alone 5.

 

[Zuma]

I agree about KVN.

I don’t expect either McCouty twin will make a move unless the other brother does also, or the team forces their hand. I think they had too much fun winning the Lombardi together to forego their best chance at doing it again, and that’s with the Pats.

2 Lombardi's in a row and that will be a sign for the twins...it will give them another reason to say no mas after this season. These are my own opinions. But don't get me wrong...they are both great players and still very productive. They keep in great shape. I'd like to keep them for many more years if they continue with their great play.

Like others have mentioned...extending KVN for 3 years I think is a very good idea.

Hightower is playing great at the moment....but he has a lot of wear on him. When KVN is 29 next season (Hightower is 29 now) ...I just don't see him as burned out as HT. HT has played a lot of games including post-season.

Thuney has been fantastic...top 5 LG's for a few years IMO....and he is gone after the season. I think Froholdt will replace him and not miss a beat.

 

[Pat the Pats Fan]

I agree about KVN.

I don’t expect either McCouty twin will make a move unless the other brother does also, or the team forces their hand. I think they had too much fun winning the Lombardi together to forego their best chance at doing it again, and that’s with the Pats.

They did appear to have fun after the afccg...that will always be a great memory for me. Devin yelling “welcome to the sup” while hugging his brother.

 

[doesntmatter1]

I'm in the minority, but I really hope we don't overpay Van Noy. I'm still not a fan because he misses far too many mundane tackles. He and Harmon are the worst tacklers on the team but it is covered up by all of the other reliable tacklers like Chung and McCourty.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

The more I learn about the NFL salary cap, the more I learn how little I understand it.

Honestly, it isn’t that complicated. What specifically led you to post this? A contract clause?

The NFL has a pretty basic structure. How much money is offered, the number of years, and what the guaranteed amount is. The guaranteed amount is the most important number because that amount is charged against the salary cap. Teams can choose to take the cap charge immediately or spread it out into later years. Pushing it down the road will eventually result in having major problems (see Jets, 2012). Additionally, having a ton of cap space (see Jets, six months ago) is not a good thing because using that money in free agents means you are overpaying big time for your whole team (see Jets, current.)

Other leagues like the NBA are extremely complicated. There are all these buyouts and exception clauses, some type of mercy rule for bad contracts, weird random years where players values skyrocket or teams have more cap room. A lot of the time trades are about getting rid of contract liabilities. There are like 20 different loophole rules, all of which are exploited by every team and therefore not a competitive advantage, but just a strange system.