Hi everyone! Thanks for submitting excellent questions for this week's BSJ Patscap mailbag! Would love to hear from you for future editions, so make sure you check out the contact information at the bottom of the page.
Can a player practice return from IR without being designated to the 53? - (The Wolf @CaptMike24)
In order for a player on IR to return to the 53-man roster, his team must designate him as a player to return the first day he practices.
Repeating a question from last week since the idea of Shea McClellin returning to practice was brought up during Wednesday's press conference with BB. When can players on the IR start practicing? Week 8? - (Nick Sweatt @OVOSweatt33)
They can start practicing after 6 weeks on Injured Reserve. Oct. 16 is the first day that Shea McClellin and Malcolm Mitchell can start practicing. Shea started practicing on the 18th. Please note that in order to be eligible to return to the Patriots 53-man roster the Patriots must make that designation the same day of the player's first practice. Nov. 3 is the first day that Vincent Valentine can start practicing. Please note that since only two players can be designated for return, if Mitchell has been designated before Valentine's date, he could not return.
Can Valentine, Mitchell and McClellin all be activated to the roster? Are there any limits? - (Kaushikr @kaushikisalive)
No. Only two of the three mentioned players can return to the 53-man roster. Two is the limit.
who is most likely, in your opinion? - (ryan jackson @thisryanjackson)
Vincent Valentine.
If no more personnel moves are made for the rest of the season, what do you project the Patriots will have in cap space next year? - (LJ @Show1)
I project both the 2018 Patriots adjusted cap number and their 2018 cap space number every week in my Patriots incentives tracking report. You can find my Week 6 report here. Here is my current estimate for the Patriots 2018 cap space number. Please note that since this estimate will change frequently between today and March 14, 2018 — the first day of the '18 NFL League Year —that I will answer this question on a weekly basis.
League cap: $180,000,000
Prior year carryover: $3,500,000
Adjustment: ($3,200,000)
Patriots adjusted cap: $180,300,000
2018 cap commitment: $161,900,000 (After tendering Ted Karras as an ERFA and signing 10 practice squad players to future contracts the Patriots should have 56 players signed or tendered for the 2018 season.)
2018 CAP SPACE: $18,400,000
With the upcoming deadline, do you see them making a move? Who do you think would be a good idea for the system and cap wise? - (Chuck Norris @VTBostonFan802)
Yes, I do predict that the Patriots will make a trade before the Halloween deadline. The Giants' Jason Pierre-Paul and the 49ers' Aaron Lynch look to fit the bill — system, and cap-wise.
How about Martavis Bryant for Jimmy G? Just thinking out loud.. - (Tedwardo @TBizzle81)
Cap-wise, this move would create some cap space for the Pats as Bryant's 2017 salary ($615K) is smaller than Jimmy G's ($820,077). Can't see the Patriots trading for Bryant. Really can't see them trading Jimmy G at such a low value.
If #patriots cut allen and sign tye, how much cap do patriots save miguel ? , could patriots cut harris and sign bowman? - (Diego Barilo @diegobarilo710)
Answered those type of questions earlier this month. See this piece.
What’s the advantage of signing a guy like Cooks (or any other guy that could use an extension) to an extension this year? I hear people say we have cap space this year so why not use it for extensions. Doesn’t unused cap space roll over to next year? So wouldn’t the same $5m cap space that be used this year be there next year and just added to 2018 cap space? To me, leaving the cap space this year to allow flexibility makes most sense and then use it next year if it goes unused. Am I missing another factor? Or miss understanding roll over cap rules?
(Neil Collins via email)
There are several advantages of signing a player during the current year as opposed to a future year.
- By extending a player during the current season a team can then use the current season as a year to prorate the signing bonus. Doing so lessens future dead money. Let me illustrate. If Cooks were to receive a $15 million signing bonus in 2017 and then released in March '20, the '20 dead money would be $6 million. If Cooks were to receive a $15 million signing bonus in '18 and then released in March '20, the 2020 dead money would be $9 million.
- Extending a player during the current year instead of a future year should help prevent the team from signing the player after a market spike at the player's position.
- Extending a player during the current year instead of a future year allows team to use the franchise tag on other players.
- Extending a player during the current year instead of a future year maximizes a team's opportunity to sign the player at a discount since the player will be passing on his injury risk to the team.
- Extending a player during the current year, instead of a future year, can save the team cash if the player and his agent are focused on reaching a certain new-money, average-per-year (APY) level. Let's say a player, who is scheduled to receive $2 million during this year and $6 million the next year, wants to sign a $15 million new money deal as part of a three-year extension. The team would pay out $53 million over the five years of the deal. ($45 million in new cash over the three new years equals $15 million APY). If the same $15 million APY deal is reached during the $6 million year, the team would pay out $66 million over the five years of the deal.
- Incentives are problematic to account for.
- A team's health can greatly affect the numbers.
- The number of key players on rookie deals, especially if a quarterback, can greatly affect the numbers.
- Using a franchise tag can affect the numbers.
- Having players who specialize in special teams can throw off the numbers. For example, let's say that the Seahawks has a Nate Ebner-type player on their roster listed as a safety but only plays special teams. If you do not know how the Seahawks use him, one would count him as a defender where a Seahawks fan would consider him a special-teamer.
