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Game time!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pats eye ways for cap to fit: Adjusted Dillon deal helps
By Michael Felger
Thursday, September 2, 2004
FOXBORO - Take a good look at some Patriots [stats, news] veterans during the preseason finale tonight against Jacksonville. It could be the last time you see them in a Pats uniform.
The salary cap ax is about to fall, and while it remains to be seen if the cut is as dramatic as the gash that cost Lawyer Milloy his job last year, the Pats are poised to make moves that go beyond the usual bottom-of-the-roster maneuverings.
The Pats must get down to the 53-man roster limit by Sunday at 4 p.m., but the bigger issue is the salary cap accounting that goes into effect next week. That's when the Pats must count all players currently under contract against the $80.53 million cap, including the active roster, practice squad and injured reserve. As it stands now, the Pats only need to count the 51 highest cap numbers on the team.
The Pats have gotten a start on the cap maneuverings, restructuring the contract of running back Corey Dillon. According to NFLPA figures, Dillon's $1.7 million salary has been readjusted to $660,000, likely meaning the Pats guaranteed Dillon's salary for 2004 and spread out the cap savings. The maneuver likely saved the Pats in the neighborhood of $500,000 against the cap.
The Pats will still have to move some bodies this weekend, and the options include a few trade possibilities. It's believed the Pats must clear between $500,000 and $1.5 million in space, and one well-placed source said that when the moves are made ``it will be evident'' they were done purely for the salary cap.
Of course, the question is which players have the target on their backs, and the pink elephant in the room remains Ty Law [news]. There has not been one shred of evidence to suggest the Pats will part ways with the controversial cornerback, and sources reiterated this week that Law is staying put.
Still, Law's prohibitive cap number ($10.2 million) remains the problem - along with Tom Brady [news]'s charge of $8.3 million. If Law is safe, then the savings will have to come from veterans with high base salaries. Next to Law ($5.9 million) and Brady ($5.5 million), the highest salaries belong to Willie McGinest [news] ($1.8 million), Rodney Harrison [news] ($1.4 million), Adam Vinatieri [news] ($1.4 million) and Joe Andruzzi ($1.2 million). Tyrone Poole ($1 million) and David Patten [news] ($1 million) and Ted Johnson [news] ($900,000) are in the next tier.
Of course, most of those players (Harrison, Vinatieri) aren't going anywhere. But others could be feeling the heat.
Here's the problem: The Pats can cut Patten, for instance, and take his $1 million salary off the books. But they also have to replace him on the roster, and even if that player makes a minimum salary in the $300,000 range, the realization in cap savings will only be around $700,000.
Also, every player mentioned above fills a key role. Given the loss of nose tackle Ted Washington, can the Pats afford to drop a run-stuffer like Johnson, especially after he plugged the holes in a starting role last week against Carolina? Patten has been one of the Pats' best receivers this preseason. McGinest and Andruzzi are crucial starters.
Also, the Pats paid Johnson a $400,000 roster bonus in the offseason and gave a $250,000 bonus to Patten. Would the Pats give those players the money, only to cut them months later? Then there's Troy Brown [news], who has a cap charge of $3.2 million but already has had his $2.7 million base salary guaranteed by the Pats.
The Pats could guarantee Brady's salary, thereby pushing some of his cap charges into future seasons. But that would only give Brady more leverage with three years standing between him and a bank-breaking new contract.
The Pats could also tear up Brady's deal and give him a new one, but that would come with a huge signing bonus. And it would also establish an unappealing precedent for the team. If Brady got a new deal this early, then Richard Seymour [news], who also has three years left, would have to be next.
Parting ways with Law would solve the Pats' cap issues in one shot. If Law were released, his cap charge in 2004 would be $2.7 million (a savings of $7.5 million). He would also carry a dead-money charge in 2005 of $2.7 million. If the Pats traded Law, his entire dead-money figure ($5.4 million) would be counted this year, but it would still represent $4.8 million in savings.
The Pats were in the exact same position last year, when they decided to cut Milloy rather than release two or three key veterans. What will they do this time around? Stay tuned.
Pats eye ways for cap to fit: Adjusted Dillon deal helps
By Michael Felger
Thursday, September 2, 2004
FOXBORO - Take a good look at some Patriots [stats, news] veterans during the preseason finale tonight against Jacksonville. It could be the last time you see them in a Pats uniform.
The salary cap ax is about to fall, and while it remains to be seen if the cut is as dramatic as the gash that cost Lawyer Milloy his job last year, the Pats are poised to make moves that go beyond the usual bottom-of-the-roster maneuverings.
The Pats must get down to the 53-man roster limit by Sunday at 4 p.m., but the bigger issue is the salary cap accounting that goes into effect next week. That's when the Pats must count all players currently under contract against the $80.53 million cap, including the active roster, practice squad and injured reserve. As it stands now, the Pats only need to count the 51 highest cap numbers on the team.
The Pats have gotten a start on the cap maneuverings, restructuring the contract of running back Corey Dillon. According to NFLPA figures, Dillon's $1.7 million salary has been readjusted to $660,000, likely meaning the Pats guaranteed Dillon's salary for 2004 and spread out the cap savings. The maneuver likely saved the Pats in the neighborhood of $500,000 against the cap.
The Pats will still have to move some bodies this weekend, and the options include a few trade possibilities. It's believed the Pats must clear between $500,000 and $1.5 million in space, and one well-placed source said that when the moves are made ``it will be evident'' they were done purely for the salary cap.
Of course, the question is which players have the target on their backs, and the pink elephant in the room remains Ty Law [news]. There has not been one shred of evidence to suggest the Pats will part ways with the controversial cornerback, and sources reiterated this week that Law is staying put.
Still, Law's prohibitive cap number ($10.2 million) remains the problem - along with Tom Brady [news]'s charge of $8.3 million. If Law is safe, then the savings will have to come from veterans with high base salaries. Next to Law ($5.9 million) and Brady ($5.5 million), the highest salaries belong to Willie McGinest [news] ($1.8 million), Rodney Harrison [news] ($1.4 million), Adam Vinatieri [news] ($1.4 million) and Joe Andruzzi ($1.2 million). Tyrone Poole ($1 million) and David Patten [news] ($1 million) and Ted Johnson [news] ($900,000) are in the next tier.
Of course, most of those players (Harrison, Vinatieri) aren't going anywhere. But others could be feeling the heat.
Here's the problem: The Pats can cut Patten, for instance, and take his $1 million salary off the books. But they also have to replace him on the roster, and even if that player makes a minimum salary in the $300,000 range, the realization in cap savings will only be around $700,000.
Also, every player mentioned above fills a key role. Given the loss of nose tackle Ted Washington, can the Pats afford to drop a run-stuffer like Johnson, especially after he plugged the holes in a starting role last week against Carolina? Patten has been one of the Pats' best receivers this preseason. McGinest and Andruzzi are crucial starters.
Also, the Pats paid Johnson a $400,000 roster bonus in the offseason and gave a $250,000 bonus to Patten. Would the Pats give those players the money, only to cut them months later? Then there's Troy Brown [news], who has a cap charge of $3.2 million but already has had his $2.7 million base salary guaranteed by the Pats.
The Pats could guarantee Brady's salary, thereby pushing some of his cap charges into future seasons. But that would only give Brady more leverage with three years standing between him and a bank-breaking new contract.
The Pats could also tear up Brady's deal and give him a new one, but that would come with a huge signing bonus. And it would also establish an unappealing precedent for the team. If Brady got a new deal this early, then Richard Seymour [news], who also has three years left, would have to be next.
Parting ways with Law would solve the Pats' cap issues in one shot. If Law were released, his cap charge in 2004 would be $2.7 million (a savings of $7.5 million). He would also carry a dead-money charge in 2005 of $2.7 million. If the Pats traded Law, his entire dead-money figure ($5.4 million) would be counted this year, but it would still represent $4.8 million in savings.
The Pats were in the exact same position last year, when they decided to cut Milloy rather than release two or three key veterans. What will they do this time around? Stay tuned.
