Good questions this week on a number of topics. Let's get started:
From Twitter follower CTPatsFan1: With all this Tom Brady contract talk, what would Brady’s salary be if they franchised him next year, non-exclusive or exclusive? Regardless of what they pay him, he will always be underpaid in that method. And isn’t guaranteed once he signs it?
Answer: $32.4 million or 120% of Brady's 2019 cap number $27 million. The Patriots might as well as place the exclusive tag on him since the $32.4 million will likely be higher than the exclusive tag. Yes, a tag becomes fully guaranteed once the player signs it.
Answer: It is not significant. The Patriots have been able to build the leading Super Bowl contender with Brady having a $27 million cap number. The hold up is most likely the length of the deal. My prediction remains Brady will be extended before 4 p.m. Saturday, September 7 -- probably after Ernie Adams determines how much cap space the Patriots need to have to operate during the regular season.
Answer: Four to five million. My guess on what will happen is that the Patriots will lower Brady's cap number from $27 million to $22 million in an extension whose new money APY is $28 million. Jimmy Garoppolo's APY is $27.5 million.
Answer: Extremely. After Marcus Cannon's restructure the Patriots have around $7.5 million in cap space. Jadeveon Clowney's salary is $15,967,200. Therefore, the Patriots would have to first create around $8 million more in cap space in order to add Clowney to their roster. It would take a combination of extensions/releases/trades of a couple of players (Tom Brady, Kyle Van Noy, Dont'a Hightower, and/or Jonathan Jones) to create the 8 million. Please note per the CBA Clowney's deal cannot be extended. Therefore, his cap number will not be lowered during the regular season.
Answer: If traded to the Patriots Williams' cap number would be $11,053,125. The Patriots currently have $7,490,353 in cap space. $11,053,125 minus $7,490,353 minus $720,000 (the salary of the player Williams displaces from the Top 51 list) equals $2,842,772.
Answer: Yes. If Williams then agrees to lower his 2019 cap number the Patriots should then be able to create the cap space needed to operate for the rest of the season. That is, I do not see the Patriots acquiring Williams and him playing out the 2019 season at his $11,053,125 cap number.
Answer: 1.) A Thuney extension before the regular season would probably have a 10 million APY.
2.) A Thuney extension during the season would probably have a $12.5 million APY.
3.) A Thuney extension during the season would probably have an $11 million APY.
Answer: Yes. Hendricks' deal qualified for the Minimum Salary Benefit (MSB) treatment. Therefore, his $930,000 salary only counts $645,000 (the minimum salary of a player with two credited seasons) against the Patriots salary cap. Hendricks received a $50,000 signing bonus and has a $40,000 roster bonus. His cap number is $735,000. It consists of:
–$645,000: Base salary
–$50,000: Signing bonus proration
-$40,000: 46-man active roster bonuses ($2,500 per active game)
Answer:$905,000 which is the difference between Jake Bailey's $495,000 salary and Ryan Allen's $900,000 salary along with Allen's 46-man active roster bonus total of $500,000
Answer: If Gronk decides to un-retire during the regular season, his cap number would be $9 million divided by 17 times the number of weeks remaining in the season plus $46,875 times the remaining number of games. As Bedard illustrated in here, the deadline to unretire is Week 13.
Week 1 - $9,609,375
Week 2 - $9,079,963
Week 3 - $8,550,551
Week 4 - $8,021,140
Week 5 – $7,444,853
Week 6 – $6,868,566
Week 7 – $6,292,279
Week 8 – $5,715,993
Week 9 – $5,139,706
Week 10 – $4,610,294
Week 11 – $4,034,007
Week 12 – $3,457,721
Week 13 – $2,881,434
Answer: To operate during the regular season. There are several expenses the Patriots need to account for:
- The salaries of players 52 and 53 -- $990,000
- The salaries of the 11-man practice squad -- $1,750,000
- Cushion for NLTBE 46-man active roster bonuses -- $1,500,000
- Josh Gordon's salary -- Since he is indefinitely suspended Gordon's salary currently counts zero against the Patriots salary cap. Let's say for the sake of this exercise, Gordon is suspended for four games. His cap number would increase to 13/17ths of $2,025,000 or $1,548,529.
- Injuries -- Teams like to have $3-5 million in reserve to replace players who go on the various reserve lists.
- Extensions -- The Patriots have typically extended a player or two during the regular season. Those extensions typically increase the player's cap number.
Answer: Cannon's restructure decreases slightly the likelihood he will be cut in the spring of 2020 as it adds $2,333,334 to his dead money total. Before the restructure releasing Cannon in 2020 would have resulted in a $1,400,000 dead money total. Now a pre-June 2, 2020 release would result in $3,733,334 dead money total. The restructure lowered the cap savings amount by $1,116,668.
Answer: Both. Cannon received a $3.5 million signing bonus which will be prorated $1,166,666 over the three remaining years on Cannon's deal. Cannon's restructure created $2,520,834 in cap space for the Patriots.
Answer: Before his restructure Cannon could have earned $6.15 million in cash via:
--$5,500,000: Base salary
--$500,000: 46-man active roster bonuses ($31,250 per active game)
--$100,000: Weight bonus
--$50,000: Offseason workout bonus
Answer: The only reason I can think of doing Cannon's restructure now is the possibility of getting injured during the preseason. Otherwise, this deal could have been done anytime before the regular season started.
Answer: According to the transaction wire, Croston became a street free agent after not being claimed on waivers.
Answer: Yes since the Chiefs currently have $24.8 million in cap space and they often structure their long-term deals with a very low cap number in the first year of the deal.
Answer:
[table id=132 /]
The 91 players include 17 of 22 SB LIII starters, 41 of 53 SB LIII active players, and 6 of 13 players who were on IR/NFI.