Salary cap recap 09.14.18: Impact of moves involving Jeremy Hill, Riley McCarron and others

Measuring the moves the Patriots made the last couple of days and their impact on the salary cap.


1. On Tuesday placed running back Jeremy Hill on injured reserve (IR). Hill's cap number will remain at $1,338,345. Because Hill will not earn six of his LTBE (Likely to be Earned ) 46-man active roster bonuses, the Patriots will receive a $112,500 credit on their 2019 cap.

2. Waived wide receiver Riley McCarron. After clearing waivers, McCarron is now a street free agent. As such, he can be signed directly to a team's 53-man roster or its practice squad.

3. Waived wide receiver Chad Hansen. After clearing waivers Hansen is now a street free agent. As such, he can be signed directly to a team's 53-man roster or its practice squad.

4. On Wednesday signed running back Kenjon Barner to a one-year deal. His cap number is $592,941, or 16/17ths of $630,000 -- the minimum salary for a player with two credited seasons. Barner's deal qualifies for the MSB (Minimum Salary Benefit) treatment, which lowers the cap value of his $790,000 salary to $630,000.

5. Signed wide receiver Bennie Fowler III to a one-year deal. His cap number is $663,529, or 16/17ths of $705,000, the minimum salary for a player with three credited seasons.

6. Signed wide receiver Corey Coleman to a one-year deal. His cap number is $592,941, or 16/17ths of $630,000, the minimum salary for a player with two credited seasons. Coleman will be an RFA (Restricted Free Agent) after this season. An original round tender of about $2 million will obtain the Patriots a first-round pick if another team decides to sign Coleman to an offer sheet and the Patriots decide not to match.

7. On Thursday, they added running back Kenneth Farrow to the practice squad. I'm presuming Farrow was signed for the minimum, making his cap number $121,600.

8. The Patriots made room for Farrow on its practice squad by releasing wide receiver Jace Billingsley. Since Billingsley was on the practice squad at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, he will be paid $7,600 for the week.

9. Learned the details of Jason McCourty's restructure.

Before the restructure, McCourty’s 2018 current cap number was $2,975,845. It consisted of:

$2,375,000 salary
$375,000 roster bonus earned in the spring
$218,750 46-man active roster bonus ($15,625 per game). Jason was active for 14 games in 2017.
$7,095 offseason workout bonus

After this restructuring, McCourty’s 2018 current cap number is now $3,332,095. It consists of:

$1,600,000 salary
$375,000 roster bonus earned in the spring
$350,000 46-man active roster bonus ($25,000 per game)
$1,000,000 in LTBE (Likely to Be Earned) incentives.
$7,095 offseason workout bonus

McCourty can earn $200,000 if he plays 40 percent of the defensive snaps, another $200,000 for 50 percent, another $200,000 for 60 percent, another $200,000 for 70 percent, and another $200,000 for 80 percent. Since he played in over 84 percent of the defensive snaps for the Browns in 2017, these playing-time incentives will be considered LTBE for 2018. For whatever incentives McCourty does not earn in 2018, the Patriots will receive a credit on their 2019 cap. So while this restructure cost the Patriots cap space in 2018, it is likely to benefit them in 2019.

10. Learned the details of the injury settlement reached with offensive lineman Will Tye. He was paid $76,412. Since Tye's settlement covers three weeks, the earliest he can re-sign with the Patriots is after Week 6.

The net effect of this week's moves is to lower the Patriots salary cap space number from $5,455,484 to $4,572,929.

Answering some logical follow-up questions:

Question: When can the players who have previously reached injury settlements re-sign with the Patriots?

Answer: Jordan Matthews - after Week 3
Nate Theaker - after Week 4
Will Tye - after Week 6
Luke Bowanko - after Week 9

Question: Who are the current members of the Patriots practice squad?

Answer:

1. OL Cole Croston


2. QB Danny Etling


3. OL James Ferentz


4. CB Jomal Wiltz


5. RB Ralph Webb


6. DL Trent Harris


7. DT Vincent Valentine


8. OL Eric Smith


9. TE Stephen Anderson


10. TE Kenneth Farrow

1. Isaiah Wynn


2. Jeremy Hill


3. Duke Dawson


4. Ryan Izzo


5. Braxton Berrios


6. Christian Sam


7. Ulrick John