The NFL and NFLPA finally came to a global agreement on Friday — geez, take your time fellas, we've only been dealing with this for five months — on how the 2020 season will play out from a player-safety perspective and how the revenue shortfall will be dealt with going forward.
So many of the previous unknowns are now known.
Let's run through the major points and discuss whether they help or hurt the Patriots, or whether they're just in the same boat as everyone else.
TRAINING CAMP
Here are the particulars (for Chiefs and Texans, everything is three days earlier):
Tuesday: Mandatory and latest reporting date for all players. Teams may reduce their rosters from 90 players to 80 players. If so, they do not need to observe the "split-squad procedures." If teams do not elect to reduce their roster, they can practice with two different groups until Aug. 16 — the date they must reduce to 80 players.
First four days will have Covid-19 testing and virtual meetings
Aug. 1-2: Physicals and equipment.
Aug. 3-11: Acclimation period begins and runs for eight days. In groups fewer than 15, players will do 60 minutes of weight training camp and 60 minutes of conditioning. On-field walkthrough practices can happen for 60 minutes each of the first four days, and then 75 minutes the final four days.
Aug. 12-16: Ramp-up period for five days with one off day in the middle. Formal practices begin at 90 minutes with 15 minutes added on each day up to 120 minutes. First two days are in helmets and shirts. Final two days are in shells with no live contact.
Aug. 17-Sept. 6: Contact integration period. Teams can have up to 14 padded practices.
Sept. 5: Prior to 4 p.m., teams must be at 53 players.
Sept. 7: First week of regular-season practice.
Sept. 10: NFL season opener — Texans at Chiefs, 8:20 p.m.
Sept. 13: Dolphins at Patriots, 1 p.m.
Bedard's Take: A lot of this stuff just goes in the category of, "Everyone's playing the same schedule." Are the Patriots in a better position than some teams due to their veteran-laden roster and experienced coaching staff, led by Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels? Yes, especially on defense.
On offense, they're in the same boat as a lot of other teams because they really have two new quarterbacks (Cam Newton and Jarrett Stidham) and the Patriots need contributions from some rookies, specifically tight ends Devin Asiasi and Dalton Keene.
But the Patriots could legitimately put out an entire opening-day offense that has intimate knowledge in the system, especially against a Dolphins team that has many new pieces on defense, and a new scheme on offense:
QB: Brian Hoyer (or even Jarrett Stidham)
RBs: (All of them return)
TE: Matt LaCosse
WRs: Julian Edelman, Mohamed Sanu and N'Keal Harry
OL: Isaiah Wynn, Joe Thuney, David Andrews, Shaq Mason, Marcus Cannon.
That's a lot of experience and a group that would be ready to roll.
I think this tightened schedule makes it at least a 50-50 proposition that Newton does not start the opener, or the first few games. I could see him getting his feet wet in the game. Belichick knows the season is a marathon and not a sprint. Given Newton's injury history and his lack of knowledge of the Patriots' scheme, what is the harm in bringing Newton along slowly?
On the question of a 90-man or 80-man roster to start, the answer would have to do with the logistics Belichick prefers. They're complicated, especially when it comes to QBs.
Players have to stay with their group. Group 1 is rookies and first-year players, and QBs and/or injured players. Group 2 is veterans. To help the rookies learn, I don't think you can just throw the two UDFA QBs with them ... I think you'd probably have to send Hoyer with them. That means Newton and Stidham with the veterans.
The good thing is, a team can cut to 80 at any time and resume full-squad workouts. Maybe the Patriots elect to use the first Aug. 3-11 period to try out the rookies and then make a cut.
But we may have gotten our indication the Patriots intend to go to 80 off the bat because they already released veteran CB Lenzy Pipkins on Saturday.
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PRACTICE SQUAD
Practice squads will increase from 12 to 16 players for the upcoming season and can include up to six players with unlimited NFL experience. All 16 practice squad members can be added to the active roster up to 90 minutes before kickoff in the event of positive COVID-19 tests the night before or the morning of a game. Previously, roster moves had to be made by 4 p.m. ET the day prior to a game.
Four players can be protected from being poached by another team on a weekly basis.
Bedard's Take: This is where we reported things would end up all along, and it certainly helps most teams retain their younger players. The Patriots don't usually get many contributions from rookies outside the first few rounds, and as a veteran team, that's still true. This also eliminates the chance of the Foxboro Flu hitting too hard. With no preseason tape to go off of, I can't see many teams claiming players at the cutdown — they're injecting clueless players into an already tough circumstance.
Six players with unlimited experience is very interesting. Could a Derek Rivers end up there? How about this ... Brian Hoyer (provided Newton and Stidham are ready to go)? Would another team really waste a roster spot on him? That grabs you a roster spot and keeps Hoyer here. If you're the Bills or Dolphins, do you claim Hoyer just to keep him away from the Patriots and hurt their quarterback room? It would be worthy of discussion. Hoyer might be an asset in tutoring Josh Allen, and for old OC Brian Daboll.
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2021 SALARY CAP: MINIMUM OF $175 MILLION
To deal with the expected revenue shortfall from the pandemic and having limited fans in stadiums, the NFL and NFLPA agreed to lower the cap floor to $175 million. If revenues are better than expected, then it will be raised.
Bedard's Take: This year's cap was $198 million, so I'm surprised they decided to go this low. But it is what it is.
Obviously we knew the Patriots were golden in 2021 with gobs of cap space. Now? Still golden relatively since every team took the same hit, but I don't think they'll be able to flex as much as they might have wanted to.
Here's OverTheCap's space for 2021 before this announcement — they had the Patriots at $90 million in space with a projected cap of $215 million. Now that it's $40 million less — at the floor — here's where every team stands right now:
Well, good luck to the Eagles, Saints and Falcons ... and the Chiefs have some work to do.
This is where the Patriots will really have an advantage. Other teams will be casting off mid-level veterans, and the Patriots could scoop them up with affecting their comp pick calculations. Plus, with teams releasing players, the market will be more bare-bones than ever. So Belichick can get veterans more cheaply than ever. He's probably dreaming about it right now.
NICKEL PACKAGE
1. The Seahawks haven't been the same defensively since Kam Chancellor got old and Earl Thomas needed surgery, so I can see why they were looking for that type of impact player like Chancellor in trading for Jets safety Jamal Adams. But there's no way I would ever give up that haul — two first-round picks, a third and decent veteran safety Bradley McDougald — for a player who could leave in two years and wants to be paid like a pass rusher. I don't get it. Adams is a terrific player — I'm sure Julian Edelman is doing a jig that he doesn't have try to block Adams twice a year on running plays (it didn't go well) — but he's been a team morale issue and shooting his way out of New York isn't going to temper his urges.
2. Have to love Rodney Harrison, at least for his ability to keep things real — even if he's not totally right. This quote was interesting on PFT Live this week: "As a player, think about it. If I’m Devin McCourty and I just lose Tom Brady and all of a sudden in the offseason I’m like, ‘What the heck is this Jarrett Stidham gonna do? As a defense, do we really have to be the No. 1 defense in the league to win now?’ Then all of a sudden Cam Newton signs, you’re like, ‘Holy crap. We have a legitimate chance. Like, we can win this division.’ You automatically forget about Tom Brady and you feel like you can give yourself a really legitimate chance of winning that division and getting back into the playoffs and having success.”
3. Look, I'm high on Newton and think this will work, so what Harrison said may indeed happen. But a lot has to go right. Newton has to acclimate to the offense, be quick with his decisions and accurate with his passes. He has to stay healthy, especially with his shoulder — which hasn't happened in three years. Finally, Newton has to deliver on the big stage late in the biggest games — Brady's greatest strength. Newton hasn't done that since ... a long time. Since 2015, Newton has just three four-quarter comebacks and five game-winning drives. Brady had five and six (the Patriots didn't trail all that much). Newton's teams were not as good as Brady's and they needed him to be Superman, and he was not. Derek Carr has 13 and 15 in the same time period. So I would go a little easy on the "forgetting about Tom Brady" stuff.
4. I'd much rather go with this from former Newton tight end Greg Olsen, to ESPN's First Take: "The one thing (Belichick's) going to learn about Cam is no one wants to win more than him, nobody’s gonna come every day and practice harder and train harder and prepare better. The things that Cam does so well are pretty much that whole ‘Patriot Way’ of everything is about winning. Cam is going to check all those boxes, so I don’t think they’re going to have any issues on that front. ... Is he going to dress different after the game than some of the other quarterbacks? Of course. Cam is his own person. But never at any moment does it ever take away his willingness and his preparation to go out there and win first and foremost. I think that would resonate with all coaches around the league, not just in New England.”
5. A little birdie told me Newton has been working out at Dexter Southfield in Brookline, where one of the Kraft grandkids go.