Howe: Cap room is mainly gone

[Fencer]

Most of cap room gone, but Patriots have other holes to fill | Boston Herald

Howe guesses that there are $4-5 million left for:

• Vollmer or any replacement
• WRs beyond Amendola
• Any vet DEs who are signed

However, I'm not sure whether the original $25 million cap figure he used counts the savings from cutting Lloyd.

 

[resdubwhite]

hmmmmmmmm
That would seem to be at odds with everything else we've read.

 

[Ivan]

It's closer to 12 from what i can tell. If his guess is right that they are around 9 and you factor in Lloyd then they are 11-12, ansd they don't need rookie money until the Draft and can reconfigure deals later to address that need. A Wilfork restructure could do it by itself. Dumervil would be tough but they could go Vollmer, Freeney, Edelman, and Sanders and be right near the mark.

 

[Fencer]

It's closer to 12 from what i can tell. If his guess is right that they are around 9 and you factor in Lloyd then they are 11-12, ansd they don't need rookie money until the Draft and can reconfigure deals later to address that need. A Wilfork restructure could do it by itself. Dumervil would be tough but they could go Vollmer, Freeney, Edelman, and Sanders and be right near the mark.

If they go for maximum room this year with a lot of restructuring, then that pressures future seasons.

 

[TB=TD]

How much did craft pay for this pro Patriot spin? They won't be addressing anymore needs while hiding behind the cap.

 

[Ivan]

If they go for maximum room this year with a lot of restructuring, then that pressures future seasons.

I don't buy the cap is crap argument that Felger makes but it isn't a hard cap either. The Eagles spent big the past few seasons and still had plenty of room this offseason. The Patriots aren't locked into the existing room they can get creative and still have plenty of room down the road, especially when you consider that they really don't have any mega deals any time soon. The Patriots can run over the 11-12 mark and still be under come Draft Day, and it won't harm them much down the road. They aren't wasteful and they aren't going to screw themselves but they can be aggressive and make bold moves that give them a better shot a bringing another Lombardi to NE. The fact is that they are going into the final quarter of Brady's career and they should be as aggressive as possible to get rings during that run. That doesn't mean screwing themselves but it does mean being smart, aggressive, and creative, as they were with the Gronkowski and Hernandez contracts. It also means figuring out a way to fit a big deal like Fitzgerald would warrant if that opportunity opened up. you need great players and playmakers to win championships, jags won't do it, so a few moves that put them over the top would be the ideal.

Basically i believe that the concerns about cap hell for Patriot fans are way overblown. The Patriots don't run their organization that way and never will, but that doesn't mean they should adhere slavishly to an imaginary hard cap during one of the most important periods in team history. Nothing would ever mean more to this franchise than capping the Belichick/Brady era with a couple more rings, and imo that should mean much more than cap room in 2017. They should be smart, creative, and aggressive, and leave the mark they have spent more than a decade shooting for.

 

[Tunescribe]

How much did craft pay for this pro Patriot spin? They won't be addressing anymore needs while hiding behind the cap.

The stupidest post I've read in months. And that is saying something. Can't even spell the owner's name right.

 

[Clonamery]

The stupidest post I've read in months. And that is saying something. Can't even spell the owner's name right.

To be illogical is quite ordinary but to be illogical AND incoherent is something special.

 

[Miguel]

I guess that Jeff Howe does not follow me on twitter or read my cap pages)

AdamJT13: The NFL rookie pool and the salary cap

should be bookmarked by the media.

 

[DarrylS]

I guess that Jeff Howe does not follow me on twitter or read my cap pages)

AdamJT13: The NFL rookie pool and the salary cap

should be bookmarked by the media.

Great job, but it is beyond my paygrade.. that is why we rely on you.

 

[KingChre]

I guess that Jeff Howe does not follow me on twitter or read my cap pages)

AdamJT13: The NFL rookie pool and the salary cap

should be bookmarked by the media.

This is just the type of lazy mistake that I abhor from sports media members. There really isn't an excuse for Jeff to be that unfamiliar with the salary cap. Along with your page Miguel (which is fantastic, thanks for doing that), there are sources (easily located) that make this information readily available.

In addition to his numbers about salary cap space being off, does he have any idea how the rookie allocation pool works? He claims they need to save $4-5 million for the rookies with no mention of the top-51 rule, or the salaries of the current players that any incoming rookies would be displacing.

Admittedly, I am not a fan of Howe's work, and I don't read a lot of his articles, so perhaps I am being too harsh on him in particular. It's quite possible he is usually diligent and better than this, but it seems like he could have just put in a little more effort, and done a better job here.

Something that is all too common in the media these days.

 

[Big-T]

So he's spent all free agency so far moaning on Twitter about people being wrong....then he produces this inaccurate article?

Good going, Jeff.

 

[IcyPatriot]

How much did craft pay for this pro Patriot spin? They won't be addressing anymore needs while hiding behind the cap.

craft?

Really :tsk:

 

[MassPats38]

craft?

Really :tsk:

Give the man his due, Icy . . . at least it's an actual English word.

 

[Patsgofor4]

I don't have a twitter account. Can someone sent a tweet to this tool and correct him, with link to Miguel's page? Twist the knife a little bit.

 

[BlueThunder]

I don't have a twitter account. Can someone sent a tweet to this tool and correct him, with link to Miguel's page? Twist the knife a little bit.

That would be just plain cruel

 

[BradyManny]

Howe calls it an "educated guess." He should've left the word "educated" out.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

I guess that Jeff Howe does not follow me on twitter or read my cap pages)

AdamJT13: The NFL rookie pool and the salary cap

should be bookmarked by the media.

Or they could be morons like me when I quickly looked under the wrong column last week & I was wearing reading glasses

 

[Patsgofor4]

That would be just plain cruel

He deserves it. If you are going to post an article like that that, don't be lazy and do your research. Agree that the "educated guess" crap is BS.

 

[SONS_OF_BELICHICK]

Someone send him the number to Miguel's Salary cap hotline....