Shea McClellin's injury protection benefit lowers the Patriots salary cap space

Former Patriots linebacker Shea McClellin has qualified for the injury protection benefit, according to Ben Volin of the Boston Globe. What does that mean, and what sort of impact does that have on New England's cap situation?



Via the CBA: "Beginning in the 2016 League Year, any type of Injury Protection liability shall be included in Team Salary for the League Year for which such Injury Protection applies, or the League Year in which such Injury Protection is paid, agreed to be paid by settlement, or awarded, whichever is later."

Injury protection was a benefit for the seasons between 2011 and 2015, and therefore did not count against a team's cap when a player qualified for the benefit. McClellin qualified for the benefit since he was released on March 19 with a failed physical designation. That means he will now be paid $1.075 million over the seventeen weeks of the regular season, an amount equal to 50 percent of his Paragraph 5 Salary for the 2018 season ($2.15 million).

To learn more about Injury Protection, review the CBA's Article 45.

The net effect of this transaction is to lower my Patriots salary cap space number from $2,131,152 to $1,056,152.

Look for an upcoming piece on what happened to the Patriots salary cap space.

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