Patriots' cap at $14,651,158 after trade: What that could mean for Gronk, Mason, T. Flowers

Here's a look at some of the moves the Patriots have made in the last few days and their overall impact on the salary cap.



1) On Tuesday, the Patriots traded wide receiver Brandin Cooks and a 2018 fourth-round pick (No. 136) to the Rams in return for Los Angeles' first-round pick (No. 23) and a sixth-round pick (No. 198). This move created $7,829,000 in cap space, as Cooks' $8,459,000 salary was replaced by Matt Tobin's $630,000 salary on the Top 51 list. Tobin now has the 51st highest cap number on the Patriots.

2) All 32 teams lost $619,200 in cap space Tuesday on the NFLPA salary cap page. The $619,200 consists of $215 per offseason workout session times 36 sessions times 80 players. Sometime in September, we will learn how many sessions each individual player did actually attend and every team will receive a credit for the difference. Since the Patriots currently have 69 players on their roster, they should receive at least $85,140 ($215 times 36 sessions times 11 players) credit.

Answering some logical follow-up questions:

Question: What is Cooks' dead money amount?

Answer: Zero, since his $8.459 million cap number consisted solely of his salary.

Question: Will the Patriots use some of the $14.6 million in cap space on Rob Gronkowski?

Answer: The Patriots probably now have enough cap space to increase Gronk's 2018 cash intake from $9 million by a couple of million without also reaching an extension.

Question: Could there be a salary-cap reason for the Cooks' trade?

Answer: Yes. The Patriots may not have wanted to pay a wideout more money than Gronkowski. While the tight-end market has for the most part stagnated, the wideout market has exploded in recent years.

Question: Do the Patriots now have enough cap space to extend Shaq Mason?

Answer: Yes. In recent years, the top of the right guard market has exploded, as Trai Turner, Kevin Zeitler, Gabe Jackson, David DeCastro, Ronald Leary and T.J. Lang have all signed $10 million plus APY (average per year) deals. I expect that it will take a deal somewhat comparable to Turner's $11.25 million APY to extend Mason during 2018. Like Turner, Mason would be in the fourth year of his rookie deal, and has also earned the Proven Performance Escalator raising his fourth-year salary to the low RFA tender of $1.907 million.

This projected extension for Mason would give him the same signing bonus as Turner. The first two years, the salaries would be fully guaranteed. His third-year salary would be guaranteed for injury only at the start of the deal, and would become fully guaranteed sometime during 2020.



Question: Do the Patriots now have enough cap space to extend Trey Flowers?

Answer: Yes. Trey Flowers, who will turn 25 in August, will be going into the last year of his rookie deal in 2018. Jerry Hughes, who received a $9 million average per year (APY) deal, was 27 years old, at the time of his signing. Tyrone Crawford was about three months away from his 26th birthday years old when he signed his $9 million APY extension in 2015. Vinny Curry was 28 when he signed his $9.25 million APY deal. After adjusting for age and the increase in the league salary cap since those three signed their deals, I end up with a $10 million APY deal with Trey Flowers -- a $12.5 million signing bonus with his 2018 and 2019 salaries fully guaranteed, as well as 46-man active roster bonuses of $62,500 during the last four years of the extension.



Question: Can the 2018 draft class and UDFAs earn offseason workout bonus money?

Answer: No, they can not.

Question: How many wide receivers are now on the Patriots roster?

Answer: Seven. (Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan, Malcolm Mitchell, Phillip Dorsett, Kenny Britt, Cody Hollister, Cordarrelle Patterson, and Riley McCarron)

Question: What 2018 draft picks do the Patriots now have?

Answer:

1. 1st round (No. 23): From the Rams as part of the Cooks trade


2. 1st round (No. 31): their original assigned pick


3. 2nd round (No. 43): From the 49ers as part of the Jimmy Garoppolo trade


4. 2nd round (No. 63): their original assigned pick


5. 3rd round (No. 95): their original assigned pick


6. 6th round (No. 198): From the Rams as part of the Cooks trade


7. 6th round (No. 210): From the Raiders as part of the Patterson trade


8. 7th round (No. 219): From the Browns as part of the Jason McCourty trade

1. 1st round: their original assigned pick


2. 2nd round: their original assigned pick


3. 4th round: their original assigned pick


4. 5th round: their original assigned pick


5. 7th round: their original assigned pick