A team's adjusted cap consists of three numbers:
- League cap number
- Prior year carryover adjustments for Likely To Be Earned (LTBE)/Not Likely To Be Earned (NLTBE) incentives
- Adjustments for Likely To Be Earned (LTBE)/Not Likely To Be Earned (NLTBE) incentives. In 2017, the Patriots were debited a total of $1,006,553 against their 2017 adjusted cap number because of LTBE/NTLBE calculations.
Vince Wilfork
Background
Earned LTBE incentives:
Unearned LTBE incentives:
Earned NTLBE incentives:
Unearned NLTBE incentives:
not
(The changes in likelihood from last week are italicized.)
Dont'a Hightower
Unearned
Matthew Slater
Earned
Matthew Slater
OR
Probable since the Patriots are favorites to defeat the Jets on New Year's Eve and win their 13th game.
Patrick Chung
Patrick Chung
Patrick Chung
Probable since Chung has already played enough snaps that even if the Patriots were to play 103 snaps against the Jets in the last game of the season and he were to miss all of them, his snap percentage for the year would still be over 80 percent AND it is probable that the Pats will defeat the Jets on New Year's Eve
Patrick Chung
Possible since Chung has already played enough snaps that even if the Patriots were to play 103 snaps against the Jets in the last game of the season and he were to miss all of them, his snap percentage for the year would still be over 80 percent AND it is possible for the Pats to win the AFC this year.
Patrick Chung
Probable since Chung has played in 88.2 percent of the snaps so far this year. If the Pats defense plays 67 snaps (their average for the year) New Year's Eve, Chung would need to play in twenty-five of them (37.3 percent) to make his playing-time percentage for the year over 85 percent.
Dont'a Hightower
James Develin
James Develin
David Harris
Harris
David Harris
Alan Branch
Branch
Alan Branch
Julian Edelman
Impossible
Impossible: $3,000,000
Probable: $950,000
Earned: $850,000
$3,000,000
italicized
Ryan Allen
Unearned.
Nate Solder
Unearned
Nate Ebner
Unearned
Shea McClellin
Unearned.
Johnson Bademosi
Unearned
Dont'a Hightower
Johnson Bademosi
Johnson Bademosi
Impossible because the Patriots defense would have to play 228 snaps New Year's Eve AND Bademosi would have to play 100 percent of them to bring up his percentage to 35 percent for the year.
LaAdrian Waddle
Impossible because the Patriots offense would have to play 153 snaps New Year's Eve AND Waddle would have to play 100 percent of them to bring up his percentage to 40 percent for the year.
LaAdrian Waddle
Impossible (See above for reason)
Dion Lewis
Impossible because the Patriots offense would have to play 351 snaps New Year's Eve AND Dion would have to play 100 percent of them to bring up his percentage to 50 percent for the year.
Dion Lewis
Dion Lewis
Lawrence Guy
Lawrence Guy
Lawrence Guy
Impossible because the Patriots defense would have to play 115 snaps New Year's Eve AND Guy would have to play 100 percent of them to bring up his percentage to 60 percent for the year.
Duron Harmon
Duron Harmon
Impossible because the Patriots defense would have to play 154 snaps Sunday and Harmon would have to play in 100 percent of them to raise his playing-time percentage for the year over seventy percent.
Alan Branch
Impossible because the Patriots defense would have to play 1,083 snaps Sunday and Branch would have to play in 100 percent of them to raise his playing-time percentage for the year over sixty-five percent.
Dont'a Hightower
Shea McClellin
* Rob Gronkowski's $1 million incentive could have been earned in one of the following four ways:
- Scores 10 touchdowns
- Catches 60 passes
- Has 800 receiving yards
- 70 percent playing-time
Earned since Gronkowski has 1,084 receiving yards for the season but now superseded by Gronkowski reaching the next tier.
* Rob Gronkowski's $3 million incentive could have been earned in one of the following four ways
- 80 percent playing-time
- Scores 12 touchdowns
- Catches 70 passes
- Has 1,000 receiving yards
Earned since Gronkowski has 1,084 receiving yards for the season.
* Rob Gronkowski's $5.5 million incentive could have been earned in one of the following five ways
90 percent playing-time- Scores 14 touchdowns
- Catches 80 passes
- Has 1,200 receiving yards
- Named first-team All-Pro
6 touchdowns on Sunday
have eleven receptions
have 116 receiving yards
AND

do
Summary
Impossible: $4,400,000
Unlikely: $400,000
Unearned: $2,100,000
Possible: $0
Probable: $3,000,000
Earned: $3,650,000
- Gronkowski's $2.5 million incentive that can be earned with either 6 touchdowns, 11 receptions, or 116 receiving yards.
- Guy's $500,000 55 percent playing-time incentive that can be earned by playing at least half of the snaps
- Chung's $300,000 80 percent playing-time incentive AND 13 wins that can be earned with a Patriots win
- Slater's $50,000 13 wins or Super Bowl victory incentive that can be earned with a Patriots win
- Chung's $500,000 85% playing-time incentive that can be earned by playing at least 40 percent of the snaps
- Develin's $100,000 30% playing-time incentive that can be earned by playing at least a third of the snaps
Rex Burkhead
Stephon Gilmore
Austin Carr:
D.J. Killings:
Cody Hollister:
Brooks Ellis:
Jason King:
David Jones:
Kenny Moore:
LeShun Daniels:
Jason Thompson:
Credits:
Unearned LTBE incentives:
Unearned LTBE 46-man active roster bonuses:
Guaranteed Salary Offset Credit:
Total Credits:
plus
minus
League Cap:
Prior Year Carryover:
Adjustment:
Patriots Adjusted Cap:
2018 Cap Commitment:
Ted Karras
2018 Cap Space
Q: Your cap space number is currently around $3.2 million. Why do you think that they will end up with $3.1 million?
Q: Who are those five players?
Q: What would happen to a player's 2018 cap number if he reaches a NLTBE incentive in 2017?
Q: After projecting all season long that he would not garner the Pro Bowl honor, how surprised are you that he did?
Q: Can Gronkowski earn $9.5 (1+3+5.5) million in incentives this year?
Q: Will rushing for a touchdown, however unlikely, help Gronkowski reach his incentives?
Q: Some reports of Gronkowski's incentives do not mention scoring 14 touchdowns as part of his top tier?

Q: Besides the already mentioned players what Patriots have incentives for the 2018 season whose likeliness to be earned classification will be determined by how they do in 2017?
- David Andrews has two playing-time incentives that commence in 2018. He will earn $250,000 if he plays in at least 65 percent of the snaps next year. He will earn another $450,000 if he plays in 85 percent. If he continues to average playing 85 percent of the snaps in the 2017 season, the lower incentive will be considered LTBE for the 2018 season increasing his 2018 cap number by $700,000.
- James White has four incentives that commence in the 2018 season. He will earn $250,000 if he plays in at least 50 percent of the snaps in 2018, and will earn another $250,000 if he plays in 60 percent. He will earn $250,000 if he has 1,000 total yards from scrimmage and another $250,000 if he has 1,200 total yards from scrimmage. White has played in 38.5 percent of the snaps in the 2017 season, and is on pace for 640 yards from scrimmage, so none of his four incentives would be considered LTBE for the 2018 season.
Q: How else can playing-time affect the Patriots cap?
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