Measuring some of the moves the Patriots made in the last few days and their impact on the salary cap:
1.. The Patriots released wide receiver Kenny Britt. Greg wrote about its impact on the Patriots roster in this piece. I'll cover the salary cap implications.
Before his release, Britt's cap number was $1,459,790. It consisted of:
-- $1,050,000 salary
-- $150,000 roster bonus earned in March
-- $56,665 offseason workout bonus
-- $203,125 in 46-man roster bonuses ($15,625 per game)
After his release, Britt's dead money on the Patriots cap will be $206,665, consisting of:
-- $150,000 roster bonus earned in March
-- $56,665 offseason workout bonus
Please note Britt had $500,000 in NLTBE (Not Likely to Be Earned) incentives. Britt's release increases the chances James White earns some of his total yards from scrimmage incentives and Phillip Dorsett earns his $150,000 in receptions incentives.
Geneo Grissom and his $705,000 salary will now replace Kenny Britt on the Top 51 list.
2. Nate Theaker's injury settlement ended up covering one week's salary at his split salary level. When Theaker was placed on IR, his 2018 salary decreased from $480,000 to $363,000 -- $363,000 divided by seventeen is $21,352.94. Please note: While Theaker can sign with another NFL team now, he has to wait for a total of four weeks (the length of the injury settlement plus three weeks) before he can re-sign with the Patriots. Therefore, he can sign with New England after it finishes playing the Week 4 game against the Dolphins.
The net effect of Theaker's injury settlement and Britt's release on the Patriots salary cap space number is an increase of $548,125 to $8,158,727. Please note that we are still waiting for the details of two more injury settlements: David Jones and Shane Wimann.
Answering some logical follow-up questions:
Question: After Theaker's injury settlement and Britt's release, how much dead money do the Patriots now have?
Answer: Just under five million -- $4,983,135.
Question: How many players are now on the Patriots active roster?
Answer: By my count, 88. The offseason limit is 90.
Question: What were Britt's incentives?
Answer:
- $150,000 for forty receptions
- Another $150,000 for fifty receptions
- Another $200,000 for sixty receptions
