The Patriots signed one of their two first-round picks on Friday, as they came to terms with offensive lineman Isaiah Wynn. Let's take a look at the deal.
Thanks to the slotting of the rookie deals, we already know the numbers:
Salaries:
2018: $480,000 (fully guaranteed)
2019: $1,000,087 (fully guaranteed)
2020: $1,520,174 (fully guaranteed)
2021: $2,040,261 with an option for the 2022 season
In a couple of days, we'll learn how much of Wynn's 2021 salary is fully guaranteed. To put those expected numbers in context, let's look at some of the other first-round picks who have signed
Every player selected before Wynn (the 23rd overall selection) and who has already signed their rookie deal had their 2021 salary fully guaranteed. D.J. Moore, the 24th overall pick, had $1,702,856 of his 2021 salary ($2,003,361) fully guaranteed -- just shy of 85 percent. Moore had 97.31 percent of his rookie deal fully guaranteed, and 85 percent of $2,040,261 is $1,734,221.
What does this mean for Wynn? My educated guess is the Patriots and Wynn split the difference between $1,734,221 and $2,040,261, which would mean $1,887,241 of Wynn's 2021 deal is fully guaranteed. I talked about what is now negotiated in rookie deals in this post from May.
This signing lowered the Patriots salary cap space by $1,375,347, as Wynn displaced Geneo Grissom's $705,000 salary from the Top 51 list. Wynn now has the 23rd highest cap number on the Patriots roster and the third-highest cap number for a Patriot offensive lineman.
Because so much of his deal is fully guaranteed salary, there will not be any point in time during Wynn's deal that the Patriots can release him without losing cap space.
--We're still waiting on Sony Michel to be signed. I was asked on Twitter what the holdup could be -- my guess is the team and his representatives are negotiating over how much his fourth-year (2021) salaries will be fully guaranteed. Lamar Jackson, the 32nd overall pick in the 2018 draft, had $355,000 off his fourth-year salary fully guaranteed. Expect Michel's camp to look for a higher amount.
Answering some logical follow-up questions:
Question: How many offensive linemen are signed by the Patriots? And for how long?
Answer: Fifteen.
Marcus Cannon: Through the 2021 season
David Andrews: 2020
Shaq Mason: 2018
Trent Brown: 2018
LaAdrian Waddle: 2018
Joe Thuney: 2019
Ulrick John: 2018
Luke Bowanko: 2018
Matt Tobin: 2018
James Ferentz: 2018
Ted Karras: 2019 (RFA in 2020)
Cole Croston: 2019 (RFA in 2020)
Andrew Jelks: 2019 (ERFA in 2020)
Isaiah Wynn: 2021 with an option for the 2022 season
Jason King: 2018 (ERFA in 2019)
Question: How much cap space will the Patriots have after signing Michel?
Answer: $8,898,840
Question: How many players are now on the Patriots active roster?
Answer: By my count, 90 -- the offseason limit.
Question: What is the positional breakdown of the Patriots roster?
Answer:
I consider Matthew Slater, Brandon Bolden, Nate Ebner, Nicholas Grigsby, and Brandon King special teamers.
Question: As of May 22, what compensatory picks should the Patriots receive in 2019?
Answer: A third-round pick for Nate Solder, a third-round pick for Malcolm Butler, a sixth-round pick for Dion Lewis, and a seventh-round pick for Cameron Fleming. (Matt Tobin's $655,000, Luke Bowanko's $ 720,000, Troy Niklas' $940,000, Jordan Matthews' $1,000,000 and Ulrick John's $745,000 cap numbers are too small to be included in the 2019 compensatory pick calculations.)
In addition, it's important to note that the Jeremy Hill signing currently offsets the loss of Johnson Bademosi. And the Adrian Clayborn signing currently offsets the loss of Danny Amendola, according to Over The Cap.
Question: What are the Patriots 2019 draft picks?
Answer:
- 1st round: their original assigned pick
- 2nd round: from the Bears as part of a 2018 draft-day trade
- 2nd round: their original assigned pick
- 3rd round: from the Lions as part of a 2018 draft-day trade
- 3rd round: compensatory Pick (Solder)
- 3rd round: compensatory Pick (Butler)
- 4th round: their original assigned pick
- 5th round: their original assigned pick
- 6th round: compensatory Pick (Lewis)
- 7th round: from the Eagles as part of a 2018 draft-day trade
- 7th round: their original assigned pick
- 7th round: compensatory Pick (Fleming)
