PatsCap: How did the Patriots lose $9.6 million in cap in 2 weeks?

If I've been asked it once, I've been asked it a thousand times on Twitter: what happened to the $9.6 million in Patriots cap space?

If you follow me on Twitter (my handle is @patscap and you should :)), you know that I regularly provide updates on where the Patriots stand in terms of cap space. On Sept. 1, I tweeted out that after the release of Jonathan Freeney, I had the Patriots salary cap space number as $14,483,873. Some 15 days later, I have the Patriots cap at $4,850,766. That is about $9.6 million in just over two weeks.

So .... where did the cap space go?

1.) The Patriots traded for Jonathan Bademosi, which took up $685,000 in cap space as Bademosi displaced a player with a $615,000 salary from the Top 51 list

2.) The Patriots traded Jacoby Brissett for Phillip Dorsett which took up $594,544 in cap space. That's the difference in their 2017 salaries: $1,174,582 vs. $594,544.

3.) Pay for players 52 and 53: $930,000. Before Sept. 7, all 32 teams were operating under the Top 51 rule where only the salaries of the players with the 51 highest cap numbers count against the cap. That is, the salaries of the players with the 39 lowest cap numbers were not counting against the cap. For example, Cole Croston's $465,000 salary was not counting against the cap on September 6th. It started to count against the cap on Sept. 7.

4.) Pay for the 10-man practice squad: $2,037,200. The Patriots are currently paying four practice squad players more than the minimum of $122,400. They are:

Geneo Grissom: $615,000
Willie Beavers: $225,000
Angelo Blackson: $225,000
Demarcus Ayers: $170,000

5.) Pay the salaries of the players that are on injured reserve or non-football illness or injury, or the salaries of their replacements.

IR example: Matt Lengel was placed on IR on Sept. 2. His $540,000 salary was not counted against the Patriots salary cap during training camp. His $363,000 salary started to count against the Patriots salary cap at midnight, Sept. 7. Please note that Lengel, like most roster bubble players, has a split salary provision in his contract which lowers his salary if placed on IR.

Example of paying the salary of a player who replaced a player on IR: Brandon Bolden. After the Patriots placed Shea McClellin on IR, they signed Bolden to their 53-man roster so they are currently paying both McClellin and Bolden for one spot on the 53-man roster.

The eight Patriot players in descending order of cap hit, who are on IR or NFI and team is playing both the player and the replacement:

Julian Edelman
Shea McClellin
Cyrus Jones
Derek Rivers
Tony Garcia

Counting without a replacement:
Matt Lengel
Caleb Kidder
Keionta Davis

6.) Reached injury settlements with four players ($309,707):

Corey Vereen: $122,824 (six weeks)
Woodrow Hamilton: $64,059 (three weeks)
Devin Lucien: $61,412 (three weeks)
Josh Augusta: $61,412 (three weeks)

This number will increase once we learn the details of the D.J. Killings injury settlement.

7.) The guaranteed salary of some waived players hit the salary cap as dead money ($80,000): As the Patriots waived some UDFAs (undrafted free agents) their guaranteed salaries hit the salary cap. Please note that the Patriots will receive a credit on their 2018 cap if the player receives cash from a team in 2017.

Austin Carr: $22,500
Brooks Ellis: $15,000
Cody Hollister: $10,000
Max Rich: $15,000
Jason King: $5,000
David Jones: $5,000
LeShun Daniels: $2,500
Kenny Moore: $2,500
Jason Thompson: $2,500

8.) Extended Kyle Van Noy ($1,166,666): The Patriots reached a two-year extension with Van Noy, which increased his 2017 cap number by $1,166,666 (this year's proration of his $3,500,000 signing bonus)

Answering some logical follow-up questions:

Q: Do the Patriots have enough cap space to operate for the rest of the year?

A: Yes. Their current total of $4.85 million should be more than enough to cover the rest of the year. The Patriots would have to repeat the 2015 season in terms of injuries (20 players on IR) to come close to using all of their cap space. Please note that my salary cap number for the Patriots will increase once we learn the details of Killings' injury settlement. If he agreed to a three-week settlement that would increase the Patriots salary cap space number by over $280,000.

Q: How could the Patriots create more cap space if they needed it for a trade or signing?

A: That answer is coming in an upcoming post.

Q: Why does your salary cap space number of $4.85 million differ from the NFLPA's of $11.9 million?

A: My number accounts for the salaries of the 53 active players, the 10 players on the practice squad, and 10 players on IR/NFI. The NFLPA is currently only counting the 51 highest salaries. In other words, I am counting 73 salaries. They are counting 51. That is a significant difference. Please note that in recent years it has taken the NFLPA until late October to switch from Top 51 accounting to accounting for everyone.

Q: When can the players who reached injury settlements, come back to play for the Patriots?

A: They have to wait the length of their settlement plus an additional three weeks. Using Lucien, who is now on the Colts practice squad, for an example, he agreed to a three-week injury settlement. So he can't be signed by the Patriots until Week 7 (three plus three = six weeks).

Q: What is the average of the Patriots ending cap space number in recent years?

A: $4,766,608

2011: $6,987,262
2012: $5,607,914
2013: $4,106,801
2014: $5,258,054
2015: $1,347,882
2016: $5,292,335