Here's a quick recap of recent Patriots transactions and their impact on their 2019 salary cap:
1. On Saturday, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported the Patriots are set to release Dwayne Allen. The release created $6,811,250 in cap space for the Patriots, as Allen's $7,306,250 cap number was replaced on the Top 51 list with Frank Herron's $495,000 salary.
In all, Allen's cap number consisted of $6.4 million, as well as a March 18 $500,000 roster bonus, and $406,250 in 46-man active roster bonuses. Since Allen's cap number did not have any guaranteed money or any signing bonus proration, his release did not create any dead money for the Patriots. There are now four tight ends (Rob Gronkowski, Jacob Hollister, Ryan Izzo, and Stephen Anderson) on the New England roster. While there's a possibility the Patriots could re-sign Allen, it would be for a lower rate.
The bottom line? The Allen release means the Patriots ended the week with $24,305,171 in cap space.
2. On Friday, we learned the 2019 league cap had been set at $188.2 million. Talked about its impact in this piece.. Since the piece was published we also learned the potential franchise tag amounts for Trent Brown ($14.067 million) and Trey Flowers ($17.128 million).
3. On February 13, according to ESPN's Field Yates the Patriots signed reserve offensive lineman Brian Schwenke to a one-year, $895,000 extension through 2019.
Schwenke, a six-year veteran, ended the 2018 season on IR. He signed a Minimum Salary Benefit (MSB) deal, which lowers the cap hit of the salary of an established veteran like Schwenke to the minimum salary for a player with just two credited seasons in the NFL. Therefore, only $645,000 of his $805,000 salary will count against the Patriots cap -- the other $160,000 will be considered a benefit and will not count against the cap. When a player signs an MSB deal his additional compensation (signing bonus, roster bonus, offseason workout bonus, incentives) can be no more than $90,000. Schwenke's additional compensation is made up of $30,000 in offseason workout bonus money and $60,000 in 46-man active roster bonuses).
Because Schwenke was only active for three games in 2018, his current 46-man active roster cap hit is $11,250. Signing Schwenke took up less than $240,000 in cap space since he displaced a player with a $495,000 salary from the Top 51 list. Schwenke becomes the twelfth offensive linemen signed for the 2019 season.
The net effect of all of the above moves increases the Patriots 2019 salary cap space number to $24,305,721 with 56 signed players.
Answering some logical follow-up questions:
Question: I have seen some reports that Allen's release created $7.3 million in cap space.
Answer: Those reports are not accounting for the Top 51 rule -- when a player in the Top 51 list is released another player takes his place. In Allen's case, it was Herron, a player with a $495,000 salary.
Question: I have seen some reports Allen's release created $6.4 million in cap space.
Answer: Those reports are not accounting for his $500,000 that was due on March 18 and the $406,250 in 46-man active roster bonuses Allen was scheduled to earn.
Question: What is the positional breakdown when it comes to players under contract?
Answer: Please note that all of the below are currently signed for the 2019 season. That is, players scheduled to become free agents on March 13 are not included in the below numbers. For example, the kicker position shows zero because Stephen Gostkowski is not yet signed for the 2019 season.
- C - 4
- CB - 4
- DE - 5
- DT - 5
- FB - 1
- G - 3
- K - 0
- LB - 6
- LS- 1
- OT - 5
- P - 0
- QB - 3
- RB - 3
- S - 5
- ST - 3
- TE - 4
- WR - 4