Miguel's mailbag 10.03.18: How do Patriots' cap commitments look broken down by position, age?

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



FYI - I will soon be doing a two-part series that will be answering these two questions.
1.) Why is the Patriots cap space number so low?
2.) How can the Patriots increase their cap space?

Question from Twitter follower Rob: Do you have a pie chart of the salary cap broken down by position? I'd like to see what position Patriots are most invested in?

Answer: [table id=155 /]



The next table breaks down the salary cap hit by age.

[table id=154 /]



Question from Twitter follower AFasterPastor: the $1.1 space inclusive of (Julian Edelman) returning to the roster or does NE have to make cuts to make space? Was Jules exempt while suspended?

Answer: My salary cap space number has always included Edelman. The Pats received a credit on their cap the first week of September for the four weeks of missed salary, so since then, Edelman has been counting $3,703,173 on the Patriots salary cap.

Question from Twitter follower Wagner Branco: What compensatory pick will Seattle get if Earl Thomas walks after this season?

Answer: Most likely a third-round pick.

Question from Twitter follower Pats POV (McGarvin): Good evening @patscap I was wondering if you knew the rules regarding acquiring a player in the final year of their deal via a trade whose base salary exceeds the acquiring team’s cap before an extension. Ex: Team has $7M in cap and player’s base salary is $8.7M would the team be allowed to acquire the said player if an extension was reached alongside the trade? If an extension is reached before the trade is formally announced that reduces player’s cap hit to $3M is it allowed? Or would the player's salary have to already be under the cap before the trade?

Answer: The team would have to first create cap space. By way of example, in 2007, Tom Brady converted salary into a signing bonus in order to make room for Randy Moss.

Question from Twitter follower James Cissel: do you know if Ja'Whaun Bentley or Rex Burkhead are eligible to return this year?

Answer: Yes, they are. So is Duke Dawson. Only two of them can come back, though. Please note -- ESPN's Mike Reiss has reported Bentley has suffered a season-ending injury, and by the looks of Bentley's Instagram post following his injury, he's done for the year. Please also note -- starting this year, a player has to miss at least eight games, not eight weeks before he can return to the 53-man roster. So the first game Dawson can play is the Week 9 game against the Packers, while the first game that Burkhead can play is the Week 12 games against the Vikings.

Question from Twitter follower reagansmash Just a general knowledge question, why do the patriots send so many players to IR? If they can only bring 2 players back each season, what is the benefit? Do they get Cap space back or something, I never understood this.

Answer: Because the player is injured and the player's injury will keep the player from playing for at least eight weeks. (Most of the time, when a player goes on IR, it's a season-ending injury.) Teams cannot cut injured players. If a player has the split salary provision in his deal, his salary will be lowered if he is placed on IR. It's typically players in the first couple of years of their rookie deal or bottom of the roster players with an injury history who have the split salary provision. Even after lowering the injured player's salary, teams lose cap space when they place a player on IR. Why? They have to pay for his replacement. Bentley's was placed on IR, and his weekly salary decreased from $28,235.29 to $21,352.94. Meanwhile his replacement John Simon has a weekly cap hit of $76,523.07.

Question from Twitter follower Jamaican Thunder Rohan Davey: Who'd be the best player cap wise to cut?

Answer: Malcom Brown, because he has the highest salary ($1,473,168) of all the players that are not eligible for termination pay. Termination pay guarantees the salary for the year of a vested veteran if he is on a team's 53-man roster Week 1. For example, Cordarrelle Patterson would not create any cap space since Patterson is eligible for termination pay.

Question from Twitter follower Matthew Bilz Hi Miguel - just thinking about the Rams and their cap situation a la Broncos in 2015. At what year can a 1st rounder (i.e. Goff) get a new contract and start clogging up their cap?

Answer: Draft picks can extend their rookie deals after the end of their third regular season in the NFL. That means Goff, a 2016 draft pick, can be extended on New Year's Eve since this season's Week 17 games take place on 12/30/18.

Question: What is Player X's 2018 cap number?

Answer: Please see my 2018 salary cap page.

Question: What is Player X's 2019 cap number?

Answer: Please see my 2018 salary cap page.

Have a question for a future PatsCap mailbag? You can send those to him at any time via email (patscap@bostonsportsjournal.com), or you can Tweet them to him here.