What the Patriots are paying their players who are on NFI

I recently learned how much the Patriots are paying the three players who are on their NFI (Non-Football Illness) list. Per the Collective Bargaining Agreement, teams are not required to pay players who are on NFI, but if they do, their salaries will count against the team's cap.

The three affected players are:
Keionta Davis
Andrew Jelks
Chase Farris



Davis, a defensive end, is being paid as if he is on the Patriots practice squad. His weekly salary is $7,200 so his cap hit is $122,400 ($7,200 times 17 weeks). Jelks, an offensive linemen, is also being paid as if he is on the Patriots practice squad at $122,400. And Farris, another offensive lineman, is being paid $3,600 a week or half of what a practice squad player typically makes -- $61,200.

My source confirmed that Tony Garcia, who is on NFI is being paid at a rookie's split salary of $348,000 instead of the rookie salary of $465,000. So whatever "illness" Garcia is suffering from, it will cost him $117,000 in salary this year.

Learning about the salaries of Farris and Jelks decreases my Patriots salary cap number by $183,600. It is now $4,987,554. I had been including the salaries of Davis and Garcia for a couple of weeks.

I will now try to answer some questions that I anticipate that this article will create:

Q: Can Davis, Jelks, Farris and Garcia come back to play for the Patriots this year?
A: No, since they were not on the 53-man roster after the cutdown to 53 active players.

Q: Can Davis, Jelks, Farris, and Garcia be traded?
A: Per the NFL Bylaws, players on Reserve NFI "shall not be traded."

Q: How many players are now on the Patriots roster?
A: 75. The fifty-three active players and the ten players on the Patriots practice squad. In addition, there's Garcia, who is on NFI, the three above players who are also on NFI, and the eight players who are on Injured Reserve.

Q: What is the roster limit?
A: Believe it to be 90.

Q: Do you know what illness Garcia is suffering from?
A: I do not. That type of information is locked up in the Gillette Stadium equivalent of Fort Knox and the Fortress of Solitude.