For Patriots, salary cap shouldn't be an issue

Share

Over the weekend, our good friend Mike Florio at Pro Football Talk (he always calls me his good friend so I feel compelled to reciprocate . . . what kind of jerk you think I am?) noted a feature in the new CBA that will make it easier for teams to shop for free agents and ante up salary for players they want to keep around. Per Florio, teams can now carry forward any remaining cap space from the previous season into the new league year. Wrote Florio: "To do it, the team in question simply has to want to do it, and to reduce its intentions to writing."Theres no down side. Though some thought that carrying over cap space would increase the per-team minimum spending requirement that debuts in 2013, the 89-percent floor comes only from the unadjusted cap."The Patriots have a 2011 cap surplus of 6.6 million according to Florio. The salary cap for the 2012 league year projects to be about 120.5 million but the Patriots - because of that handy surplus- can spend up to 127.1 million. Teams must notify the league of their intention to carry the cap space forward by February 28. The Patriots project to have more than 20 million in cap space already in 2012 (the cap is a fluid number, so while there are reports that take teams' space out to the penny, I'm rounding). So if the Patriots want to franchise Wes Welker at almost 10 million and cut a fat deal to Brandon Lloyd or Dwayne Bowe and trade up into the top five by dealing a passel of picks, they have the money to do it. Even though theysewed up Vince Wilfork, Jerod Mayo, Logan Mankins and Tom Brady in the past 24 months, the Patriots are currently enjoying the fruits of their pre-lockout planning, where they wrote a lot of deals to expire in 2010 and 2011. They also built their current team with a number of undrafted players, from whom they've gotten maximum performance for minimal cost.

Contact Us