Measuring some of the moves the Patriots made in the last day or so and their impact on the salary cap:
1. On Monday, the team announced the retirement of offensive tackle Andrew Jelks. The Jelks' retirement will have no impact on my Patriots salary cap space number of $8,898,840 since his $480,000 salary was not large enough to be included in the Top 51, and there is no dead money resulting from his retirement. Why no dead money? No part of his 2018 salary was guaranteed, and he did not receive a signing bonus in 2017 when signed as an undrafted free agent. The Patriots had signed twenty UDFAs in 2017 and Jelks was one of only two 2017 Patriots UDFAs who did not receive any guaranteed money. Given his injury history at Vanderbilt, it made sense that his UDFA deal contained no guaranteed money.
2. The Patriots re-signed Devin Lucien, their seventh-round pick in 2016. Lucien spent the entire 2016 season on the Patriots practice squad. In 2017 he spent time on the practice squads of four different teams. Therefore, Lucien does not have a credited season, making his minimum salary for the 2018 season $480,000, the same as a rookie. I expect Lucien's deal to be at the minimum. A $480,000 salary leaves Lucien short of the Top 51 list, so his salary will not now count against the cap.
3. They signed Eddie Pleasant, a veteran safety. The minimum salary for a player with Pleasant's experience is $790,000. It's likely Pleasant signed a Minimum Salary Benefit (MSB) deal which would lower the cap hit of his salary to $630,000. A player can receive a maximum of $90,000 in additional compensation while still qualifying for the MSB treatment. For the time being, I will presume Pleasant signed an MSB deal. As such, his cap number will be $720,000 ($630,000 salary, plus the $90,000 in additional compensation). Since the 51st highest cap number on the Patriots is $745,000, Pleasant will not be in the Top 51, so his $630,000 salary will not currently count against the cap. So the signing of a veteran safety will take up $90,000 in cap space.
Since Pleasant spent the 2017 season in Houston, I asked my counterpart @TexansCap for a scouting report: "Solid sub-package player with good coverage skills. Wanted him back in Houston." If I'm Jordan Richards, I just got a little bit more nervous about my roster spot since the Patriots could create $311,120 in cap space during cutdowns by selecting the cheaper Pleasant over the pricier Richards.
4. The Patriots officially announced the Sony Michel signing. I learned exactly how much of Michel's 2021 $1,792,731 salary is fully guaranteed. I had predicted 30 percent of Michel's 2021 salary would be fully guaranteed. It ended up being 31 percent, or $555,747. If you wish to read more information about Michel's deal please see my July 22 salary cap recap.
As you can see from the below table, Michel received a higher percentage of his 2021 salary fully guaranteed than his fellow running back, Rashaad Penny. In looking at this table, the deals for Penny and Lamar Jackson stand out as being outliers. I am surprised that as a quarterback Jackson was not able to receive a premium for playing the game's most important position.
[table id=73 /]
5. They waived safety David Jones with an injury designation. If he goes unclaimed, he will end up on the injured reserve. By being placed on IR so early, Jones would not be eligible for the Designated to Return designation. After he is placed on IR, Jones' salary will be lowered from $480,000 to $363,000. Please note his salary will not count against the Patriots' salary cap until the end of the Top 51 rule on September 6.
Answering some logical follow-up questions:
Question: How many safeties are signed by the Patriots? And for how long?
Answer: Six
Devin McCourty: Through the 2019 season
Patrick Chung: 2020
Duron Harmon: 2020
Jordan Richards: 2018
Damarius Travis: 2018
Eddie Pleasant: 2018
Question: How many wide receivers are signed by the Patriots? And for how long?
Answer: Eleven
Julian Edelman: Through the 2019 season
Chris Hogan: 2018
Cordarrelle Patterson: 2018
Kenny Britt: 2018
Phillip Dorsett: 2018
Jordan Matthews: 2018
Malcolm Mitchell: 2019
Braxton Berrios: 2021
Cody Hollister: 2018
Riley McCarron: 2018
Devin Lucien: 2018
Question: How many players are now on the Patriots active roster?
Answer: By my count, 90. The offseason limit is 90.
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 July 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. Please also note that Eddie Pleasant will not be part of the 2019 compensatory pick calculations since he was signed so late.
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)
