Cap Crunch Solved: Patriots created $3,712,500 in cap space by restructuring Gilmore's deal

As I predicted, the Patriots recently created cap space and they did so by converting most of Stephon Gilmore's remaining salary into a signing bonus.

Before the restructure, Gilmore's 2018 cap number was $12,513,130. After the restructure, Gilmore's 2018 cap number is now $8,800,630 (a $3,712,500 decrease).

There is a downside to this: Gilmore's cap numbers for each of the remaining years for his contract (already among the highest on the team) have increased.

In case you're just now paying attention, the Patriots up against the cap earlier than ever for various reasons and were basically frozen against the cap from doing much of anything. We've written about this previously:

READ — Cap Crunch Part I: Patriots are up against the cap earlier than ever – what that means and how they got here

READ — Cap Crunch Part II: How can the Patriots create more cap space?

What does the Gilmore restructure mean? What can or can't they do now? Does this mean they can now go out and get any player they want?

The Patriots had to do this accounting trick because they would have gone over the cap in Week 16 because of earned NLTBE 46-man roster bonuses. Teams are not allowed to go over their adjusted cap number, so cap space had to be created before then.

After this Gilmore restructure, my new Patriots salary cap space number is $5,379,817 which is more than enough cap space to operate the rest of the year.

Right now, it's doubtful the Patriots can just use this space to acquire another player. But it's now a possibility if paired with another move. This restructure makes an extension of a lower-salaried player like a Trey Flowers or a Jonathan Jones possible.

The particulars, if you're interested:

Before the restructure, Gilmore's 2018 cap number was $12,513,130. It consisted of:

-- $8,500,000 salary
-- $6,880 offseason workout bonus
-- $3,600,000 signing bonus proration from 2017 $18 million signing bonus
-- $406,250 46-man roster bonuses ($31,250 per game)

Before the restructure, Gilmore's 2019 cap number was $13,600,000. It consisted of:

-- $9,500,000 salary
-- $3,600,000 signing bonus proration from 2017 $18 million signing bonus
-- $500,000 46-man roster bonuses ($31,250 per game)

Before the restructure, Gilmore's 2020 cap number was $14,600,000. It consisted of:

-- $10,500,000 salary
-- $3,600,000 signing bonus proration from 2017 $18 million signing bonus
-- $500,000 46-man roster bonuses ($31,250 per game)

Before the restructure, Gilmore's 2021 cap number was $15,600,000. It consisted of:

-- $11,500,000 salary
-- $3,600,000 signing bonus proration from 2017 $18 million signing bonus
-- $500,200 46-man roster bonuses ($31,250 per game

After the restructure, Gilmore's 2018 cap number is now $8,800,630 (a $3,712,500 decrease). It consists of:

-- $3,550,000 salary (Gilmore earned $500,000 a week for the first six weeks of the season. Will now earn $50,000 a week for the last eleven weeks). $3,000,000 + $550,000 = $3,550,000.
-- $6,880 offseason workout bonus
-- $3,600,000 signing bonus proration from 2017 $18 million signing bonus
-- $1,237,500 signing bonus proration from 2018 $4.95 million signing bonus. The $4.95 million being the difference in $5,500,000 salary to $550,000).
-- $406,250 46-man roster bonuses ($31,250 per game)

After the restructure, Gilmore's 2019 cap number is now $14,837,500. It consisted of:

-- $9,500,000 salary
-- $3,600,000 signing bonus proration from 2017 $18 million signing bonus
-- $1,237,500 signing bonus proration from 2018 $4.95 million signing bonus.
-- $500,000 46-man roster bonuses ($31,250 per game)

After the restructure, Gilmore's 2020 cap number was $15,837,500. It consisted of:

-- $10,500,000 salary
-- $3,600,000 signing bonus proration from 2017 $18 million signing bonus
-- $1,237,500 signing bonus proration from 2018 $4.95 million signing bonus.
-- $500,000 46-man roster bonuses ($31,250 per game)

Aftere the restructure, Gilmore's 2021 cap number was $16,837,500. It consisted of:

-- $11,500,000 salary
-- $3,600,000 signing bonus proration from 2017 $18 million signing bonus
-- $1,237,500 signing bonus proration from 2018 $4.95 million signing bonus.
-- $500,200 46-man roster bonuses ($31,250 per game

Please note that you can view my 2018 salary cap table here.

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