Miguel's Mailbag 09.17.18: Answering questions about Josh Gordon's new deal

All right, everyone. Let's dive into this week's questions:

As you probably already know, the Patriots traded for Josh Gordon Monday, dealing a 2019 fifth-round pick. If he's not active for ten of the fourteen remaining games, New England will receive a 2019 seventh-round pick in return. September 21 update - the seventh-round pick from the Browns no longer has any conditions. In order to make room on their 53-man roster, the Patriots waived recently signed Corey Coleman. Received lots of questions on Twitter after the trade was reported regarding these two transactions. Here are my answers:

Question from Twitter follower Mr.Palomo21: What's Gordon's Cap Hit this year?



Answer: Gordon's 2018 cap hit on the Patriots is $697,059.

Question from Twitter follower GrahamMcG: Are the Pats allowed to place an original-round tender on Gordon? Does it work any differently since he's a supplemental draft 2nd rounder?

Answer: Yes, the Patriots will be allowed to place an original round Restricted Free Agent (RFA) tender on him. Per the CBA, in 2019, the low round RFA tender will be somewhere between five ($2,002,000) and ten ($2,098,000) percent higher than the 2018 tender of $1,907,000. It makes no difference that he was a supplemental draft pick.

Question from Twitter follower Nick Roy: Does Coleman have practice squad eligibility?

Answer: Yes.

Question from Twitter follower Michael Alex Roman: What is the difference between Gordon's and Coleman Salary?

Answer: $141,177. Gordon's salary is $790,000, while Coleman's was $630,000. The difference is $160,000. Divide $160,000 by seventeen weeks. Multiply the result ($9,411.77) by the fifteen remaining weeks of the season, and we get $141,177.

Question from Twitter follower Pliability Coleman makes like 45K in a week... am I close?

Answer:  Yes, you are close. Corey Coleman made $37,059 during his one-week stay on the Patriots.

Question: Is Josh Gordon eligible for termination pay?

Answer: Yes, so if he is released by the Patriots, his 2018 cap hit of $697,059 will remain on the Patriots cap. Please note that termination pay fully guarantees a vested veteran if they are on a team's Week 1 roster. Trading for Gordon now makes the Patriots responsible for paying it. This increases the risk for New England.

Question from Twitter follower gillwho?: Does Vontae Davis's contract language allow the Bills to recoup any earnings he's received this season?

Answer: From Joel Corry, a former agent "The Bills will get $2,282,169 of salary cap relief from Vontae Davis' retirement. That's $1,985,294 from not paying 15/17ths of his $2.25M base salary as well as $109,375 & $187,500 from his 53-man & 46-man roster bonuses. Signing bonus must be repaid for additional relief." If interested in learning more about the salary cap I highly recommend following Joel at @corryjoel

Question from Twitter follower mrmagoo: Thoughts on BB making a deadline move for Fitzgerald? He'd be a great fit and we know BB has always wanted him on NE. Tread water for now by making adjustments, and hoping that Edelman and 1 of Coleman, Britt, or Matthews can make an impact.

Answer: Can't see it happening. Fitzgerald's desire to play with one team his entire NFL career is probably the reason he is one of the few NFL players with a no-trade clause. Plus, it will be difficult to fit his $5,823,529 cap hit onto the Patriots salary cap. I have the Patriots salary cap space number as $4,545,057. By the trade deadline, it will be lower as the Patriots continue to replace injured players.

Question: Were you surprised by the Gordon trade?

Answer: Yes. I didn't think the Patriots would trade for a player whose availability cannot be depended on. Plus, I didn't think New England would win a bidding war for him. Thought that Gordon would fetch the Browns a fourth-round pick.

Question: Were you surprised that the trade involved a fifth-round pick?

Answer: No. The Patriots have made only four fifth-round selections since 2011. See this piece by Inside the Plyon's Dave Archibald about the Patriots' history with trading fifth-round picks.

Question:  Was Gordon eligible for the waivers process?

Answer: No. If Gordon had been cut by the Browns, he would have become a street free agent and the bidding war would not have been over draft picks but over how much Gordon would be paid more than the minimum.

Question from Twitter follower Steven DiNisco: Do you have Pats 2019 draft capital available?

Updated answer after the Josh Gordon trade:

1. 1st round: their original assigned pick


2. 2nd round: from the Bears as part of a 2018 draft-day trade


3. 2nd round: their original assigned pick


4. 3rd round: from the Lions as part of a 2018 draft-day trade


5. 3rd round: Compensatory Pick (Solder)


6. 3rd round: Compensatory Pick (Butler)


7. 4th round: their original assigned pick


8. 6th round: Compensatory Pick (Lewis)


9. 7th round: from the Eagles as part of a 2018 draft-day trade


10. 7th round: their original assigned pick


11. 7th round: Compensatory Pick (Fleming)