Good questions this week -- topics included cap space, free-agent spending and possible changes to the CBA. Let's get to it.
Question from Twitter follower MrQuindazzi: What changes to the next CBA would restore the "middle class" to NFL rosters? Could they set max % of cap by position so the super stars don't take up so much space?
- Increased minimum salaries.
- Increasing the cash spending requirement to 89 percent over four years.
- Shorter rookie deals.
Question from Twitter follower chevss454 Will S.: You predict pretty well! What's your prediction for a cap credit for Hernandez now?
Question from Twitter follower Ryan Ciccarelli: How much cap space do they need for all their draft picks, assuming they actually use all that they currently have?
A follow-up question from Twitter follower MarChod: I'm confused because rule of 51 ultimately ends around September so those guys will count against the cap anyway?
Question from Twitter follower Michael Alex Roman: The Pats increased their offer to Adam Humphries so does that mean there is a restructure coming?
Question from Twitter follower Michael Scott DePasqua:Pats have the money for Tate?
Answer: Yes. The Patriots reportedly offered Humphries $10 million a year. I can see them going to $11 million or 12 million a year for Tate, with his cap number being in the $6 million range. (I wrote this before the news Tate had signed with the Giants, but I'm leaving it up because I believe the Patriots are not concerned about their relatively low cap space number.
Question from Twitter follower Beth Liggins: Miguel, does the Matthew Slater option impact the cap or was it already accounted for?
Question: I have a question: can we predict how will be the 2020 Pats’ Salary Cap? I saw people saying that Cowboys and Seahawks will have 100 milion or plus.
- League cap - There has yet to be an official projection of what it will be. (They usually come out in December.) People are using $200 million, but that's just an educated guess. We will not learn the exact number until next February.
- Prior year carryover - We're nine months away from the last regular-season game. Teams will make dozens of transactions between now and then.
- Adjustments - They are usually based on incentives. It's far too soon to determine who will earn NLTBE incentives and who will not earn LTBE incentives.
- Total cap commitments - Those $100 million cap space numbers often do not include the disclaimer the teams currently have 20 or so players signed for the 2020 season. For example, Russell Wilson and Dak Prescott are not signed for 2020. If they extend their deals or are tagged, that will greatly decrease their team's cap space number.
Question from BSJ subscriber arnsworth1026 to Greg: Hey Greg! I remember last year learning that contracts couldn’t be redone until a year had past on the previous revision. Is that true for extensions? If it is, they wouldn’t be able to redo Brady until August or so, right? Thanks for the hard work!
Question from Twitter follower Tommy Hill: Players that are non tendered do they count like a normal free agent in the compensatory formula or like a street free agent?
Question from BSJ subscriber panthius: I am curious what the salaries of Joe Thuney and Elandon Roberts were prior to the PPE. Hopefully they will ink Thuney to a nice extension to keep him here for the foreseeable future before he hits free agency. As for Roberts, could they get another linebacker for less money that doesn’t consistently overrun the play.
Question from Twitter follower Chad: odd question, but when do, if at all, comp draft picks become tradable?
Question: What is your current Patriots 2019 salary cap space number?