Now that the 2018 draft is over, I thought it would be a good time to update my rookie pool piece with the final numbers.
(With Brian McFarland's permission, I used his fine work here as a template for my original blog post.)
After all their trades, the Patriots ended up with nine selections in the 2018 draft. With the new CBA’s rookie wage scale, the compensation for draft picks is now basically slotted, so based on its total, New England will have a rookie cap number of $7,801,611.
Those cap numbers should break down as follows :
- 1st round (No. 23): $2,087,464
- 1st round (No. 31): $1,755,959
- 2nd round (No. 56): $864,406
- 5th round (No. 143): $556,326
- 6th round (No. 178): $525,576
- 6th round (No. 210): $509,732
- 7th round (No. 219): $506,121
- 7th round (No. 243): $498,682
- 7th round (No. 250): $497,345
Based on the above numbers, the first three picks will all have a cap number greater than Joe Cardona's $730,000 -- the Patriots’ 49th-highest cap number. As such, they will become part of the top 51 and, under the Rule of 51, will replace Cardona, Geneo Grissom and Brandon Bolden. Cardona's $25,000 signing bonus proration, Grissom's $15,000 offseason workout bonus and Bolden's $60,000 signing bonus and $30,000 offseason workout bonus will remain to count against the salary cap.
The cap numbers of the remaining six picks will fall outside of the top 51, so the base salaries of those players, while counting against the rookie cap, will not count against the team’s overall salary cap. Only the signing bonus prorations for those players will count.
So, to calculate the exact impact of the rookie cap on the team’s overall cap, the amount of the base salaries – $480,000 – for each of the lower six draft picks ($2,880,000) can be deducted from the overall number of $7,801,611.
--For the 23rd overall pick, his cap number will count against the overall cap (by virtue of being part of the top 51), he will replace Bolden. So Bolden's $630,000 salary will be deducted from the team’s overall cap.
--For the 31st overall pick, his cap number will count against the overall cap (by virtue of being part of the top 51), he will replace Grissom. So Grissom's $705,000 salary will be deducted from the team’s overall cap.
--For the 56th overall pick, while his cap number will count against the overall cap (by virtue of being part of the top 51), he will replace Cardona. So Cardona's $705,000 salary will be deducted from the team’s overall cap.
When those numbers ($2,880,000, $630,000, $705,000, and $705,000) are deducted from the team’s rookie cap ($7,801,611), the true impact of the signing of the team’s rookies – $2,881,611 is revealed.
[table id=55 /]
So, that is how the rookie cap – the “cap within a cap” – actually works.
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