Is Bentley in Danger?

[RobertWeathers]

Except for a handful of players, everyone from the 2024 team is in danger.

 

[Hugepatsfan]

Maybe. Not sure Gibbens will be starting caliber this year though. Coming off an injury that could take longer to bounce back from compared to Bentley’s. But if Gibbens can contribute a lot, it will be on run downs. Spillane is an every down guy but still deficient in coverage. If Gibbens beats Bentley out not sure his skill set fits well in the room. You don’t need 3 ILBs strong vs the run who struggle in coverage. But it really comes down to who’s taking his spot.

 

[Sciz]

Tavai has $1.5M guaranteed salary this season and $600k next season. Yes, it would hit the cap as dead money, but I think it’s pretty safe to assume he’d get signed elsewhere to offset that $2.1M in the end.

 

[n1997y]

Bentley being cut would cost 1.8M but save 4.6M. So could he be cut? Potentially. But not unless they meed the money. He is very solid depth. If they need cash they are probably cutting Bourne before Bentley, though Bentley is on the block if they need to open up some room.

Unfortunately they don't have an easy way to make a lot of cap space around. I don't think they want to extend Dugger. When it comes to Onwenu i can understand them being hesitant to add more years considering how last year went. Barmore's situation makes his contract one they probably don't want to touch. Hunter Henry is 30... do you want to extend him at this point? They are in a bit of a bad position when it comes to ability to create more cap space with contract moves.... so if they need more Bentley is under the gun for sure.

I thought the Pats still have more cap space than almost any other teams, so why would need to manipulate roster to generate cap space be an issue?

 

[BobDigital]

I thought the Pats still have more cap space than almost any other teams, so why would need to manipulate roster to generate cap space be an issue?

I estimate they have between 10-20 million in usable cap space. They may decide to sign more people. An LT, Guard, RB, another DL or edge guy. They may find themselves up against it even if none of those contracts turns out to be too individually expensive.

 

[Calhoun44]

We signed 2 starting caliber off the ball LBers.
We also have Bentley, Tavai and now we matched an overpay offer to Ellis indicating they think he is more than the 5th ILB.
Bentley is in the last year of his contract and saves 4.6 mill on the cap.
Could he be traded for a draft pick?

I read the title to this thread, and I thought Bentley was losing to BC in the NCAA Hockey Championships or something ominous was happening to the Falcons. But I was pretty sure the game was on Friday...I was very confused...Anyway, carry on with football talk.
Go Falcons!

 

[Wozzy]

He’s in the final year of his contract, his employment in New England has nothing to do with his ability. As long as he’s healthy he’ll be starting somewhere.

 

[Sect140]

I’m not sure but I think he will be because he seems to be the prototypical run stuffing MLB, play him in short yardage/ goal line situations. It’s going to be a great training camp.

 

[Froob]

Appears he is being released. Great call, Andy

 

[Ring 6]

I thought the Pats still have more cap space than almost any other teams, so why would need to manipulate roster to generate cap space be an issue?

We have about 71 mill before Diggs.
If Diggs costs 15 mil this year that outs is at 56
Miguel estimates we need 26 mill for other items so we have effectively 30.

However next year we have 30 mill less and that gap gets smaller when Diggs is added.
So it looks like they are planning to push some of this years cap into next year (really just covering next years cost of this years FAs) to balance out and be maneuverable.
I still expect a number of signing between 2 - 5 mill for depth.