Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Cam Meets the Cap: Talking Patriots Financials with Pats Cap - 7/2/2020

Episode Date: July 2, 2020

Cam Newton’s deal with the New England Patriots is best described as “low-risk, high-reward.” However, it does have implications on the Pats’ attempt to build a roster in 2020. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Miguel “Pats Cap” Benzan, to break down Newton’s deal with the Patriots. He also outlines some of the roster moves that New England might make to create more room under the salary cap. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Patriots fans, you are now locked in to the Locked On Patriots Podcast. I'm going to show you how to make a beautiful and beautiful flower. I'm going to use a small flower pot. I'm going to use a small pot Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful. It is time to talk money Thursday here on the Lockdown Patriots podcast, your daily home for news notes and analysis infused with the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions, the

New England Patriots. Today's episode is brought to you by rockauto.com. Amazing selection, reliably low prices, all the parts your car will ever need. Visit rockauto.com and tell them Lockdown sent you. Patriots fans, what is happening? It is Thursday, July 2nd, 2020, and a very special episode of Locked On Patriots on tap for you today. My name is Mike DeBate, your host of the Locked On Patriots podcast, which of course is a

proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And folks, because it's your team every day, that means your questions, comments, and feedback are always welcomed and greatly appreciated. Feel free to share that feedback anytime by reaching out to me and following me on Twitter at M-D-A-B-A-T-E-F-P-C. And while you're out there making that Twitterverse an offer it can't refuse, please be sure to follow the Lockdown Patriots account as well at L-O underscore Patriots. Patriots fans, it has been just a little over four days since the team announced its signing

of quarterback Cam Newton. And save for a lot of the surprise that signing caused on Sunday night, there haven't really been a whole lot of logistics that have been released surrounding the contract, meaning a financial standpoint. Yes, we know that it's been described as a one-year deal. We've heard the terms incentive-laden, low-risk, potentially high-reward. I've used them myself here several times on the pod to describe it. Well, on Thursday morning, some of the details started to surface a little bit.

And even though these details have yet to be made official by the team, Ian Rappaport of the NFL Network had the following to say about Cam's potential contract. It looks to be a one-year deal. The team guaranteed him just $550,000. That's on a $1.05 million total base. In Rappaport's words, and I completely agree with him here, that is the definition of low risk, folks. The reward comes in $700,000 in per-game rosters bonuses

and another $5.75 million in incentives, meaning that the maximum that Cam can earn this year on the field is $7.5 million in all. After reading those details, I could only think of one thing, and folks, I'm going to double-dip my Godfather references here. That is an offer the Patriots simply could not refuse. You're bringing in a former NFL MVP with tremendous upside, when healthy, one of the most electrifying and dominant players in the game. And you're doing it on a deal that is only going to cost you $7.5

million maximum out of pocket. That may end up going down as the bargain of the century. But as great as that deal looks on paper for the New England Patriots, and folks, by all accounts, it is. I'm not trying to play devil's advocate here. But contracts on an NFL team do not happen in a vacuum. They have implications on the team itself and a lot of individual players who might find themselves without a ton of financial or job security. Most importantly on this deal, we are all wondering how this is going to affect the Patriots' salary cap. And folks, that leads me directly into why today's episode is so special.

Whenever we have any questions surrounding the Patriots' salary cap, who do we go to but my good friend, the salary cap top gun, the Pats cap himself, Miguel Benzon, joins me here today on Locked On Patriots. And Miguel will take a deep dive into Cam's contract. What it means for his status in New England in 2020. What it might mean for his future beyond 2020 in New England. And how it might affect some of the other players on the Patriots roster when it comes to freeing up additional salary cap room.

According to Miguel's latest calculations, and again folks, it's at the time of the recording of this podcast, Cam's deal, once official, would leave the Patriots with only $263,489 in cap space. That's a pretty low figure to be looking at considering the Patriots' financial obligations throughout the year of 2020. But is it catastrophic? Do the Patriots have to act immediately to free up cap space? Well, these are all questions that I'm going to ask my good friend Miguel today, because

I also share your curiosity. And whenever Miguel chooses to offer his financial wisdom and counsel on all things related to your New England Patriots, I'm first in line to listen. And we're always honored to have him here on Locked on Patriots. So sit tight, folks. Settle in. Every time Miguel joins me on the microphone, it's always informative. It's always a lot of fun.

And it is a listen I'm sure you will all love. But before Miguel joins me here in just a moment, I just wanted to share some NFL news with you that broke yesterday afternoon. Now this concerns the entire NFL, but it does have an impact on your New England Patriots as well. It surrounds the preseason slate, and in a move that should really come as no surprise to any of us, the NFL is reportedly cutting the preseason in half from four games to two. And according to Pro Football Talk, who was the first entity to report this, the league will be effectively canceling weeks one and week four in the preseason, and they're expected to make that official announcement sometime on Thursday.

Now, this came from concerns stemming from an offseason that has been greatly impacted by the coronavirus. It's caused teams to conduct their entire programs online and away from their facilities. Now, the league at this point is deciding to give coaches more time to work with their players on the field at practice. That's important considering all of the new regulations that will be put in place, not only with training camp, but also with preseason, and then, of course,

you're talking about the regular season as well. Keep in mind that training camps, including that of your New England Patriots folks, are set to open at the end of July, most notably on July 28th, which is when the Patriots are expected to open theirs. Coaches are now going to have an additional week of practice before they have to worry about potential travel and preparing for games. For the Patriots, that means that the August 13th home opener

against the Detroit Lions is now scrapped, as is the September 3rd trip to New Jersey to take on the Giants to close out the preseason. This potentially means that the first opportunity we get to see Cam Newton in a Patriots uniform taking meaningful snaps is probably going to be against his former team, the Carolina Panthers. That game is scheduled to take place on August 20th, and if the Pro Football Talk report ends up coming to fruition, that's exactly what will happen. That game will be on. It will be followed up by a road trip to Philadelphia on August 27th, just one week later, and most importantly, instead of playing that final preseason game, coaches will now get one

additional week to prepare as they move toward the regular season opener in September. So again, folks, something to look forward to, something to keep a sharp eye on. It would be interesting to see Cam Newton make his Patriots debut against his former team. And I know it's preseason, but if you don't think that Cam may have a little extra motivation to perform pretty well in that game, well, then you just might not know Cam Newton as well as you think you do. But on an individual level, Cam is going to want to get off to the best start he possibly can, preseason or not, because he's got a lot of regular season incentives to earn in order to maximize his contract. So once again, folks, in a moment, Miguel Benzon, the Pats cap himself,

will join me here on Locked On Patriots to talk about Cam's new contract and all of the corresponding roster moves that the Patriots may have to make to ensure that they field a competitive and financially sound team for 2020. But first, as much as we're looking for the crisp autumn weather of football season, we're all excited that summer is here, folks. It's a time of year where you look and feel your best, or at least you want to. You also want to make sure that your vehicle is looking at its best, and of course, running at its best. That's pretty important. And for me, there is nobody better to help me do that than my good friends at rockauto.com. Those chain stores, they have different price tiers for professional mechanics and do-it-yourselfers like me. But I

will always choose rockauto.com every day of the week and twice on Sunday because their prices are the same for everybody and they're reliably low. In fact, rockauto.com always offers the lowest possible prices. Their inventory website is for everybody and it does reliably low. In fact, rockauto.com always offers the lowest possible prices. Their inventory website is for everybody and it does not require membership or account login. rockauto.com is a family business serving auto parts customers online for 20 years. Go to rockauto.com to shop for auto and body parts from hundreds of manufacturers. They have everything from engine control modules and brake parts to tail lamps, motor oil, even new carpet. Whether it's for your classic or your daily driver, get everything you need in a few easy clicks delivered directly to your door.

The RockAuto.com catalog is unique and remarkably easy to navigate. Quickly see all the parts available for your vehicle and choose the brands, the specifications, and here it comes, folks, the best part, the prices that you prefer. Why spend up to twice as much for the same parts? The specifications, and here it comes, folks, the best part, the prices that you prefer. Why spend up to twice as much for the same parts? Go to rockauto.com right now and see all the parts available for your car or truck. Write Locked On in their How Did You Hear About Us box so they know we sent you. Amazing selection, reliably low prices, all the parts your car will ever need. rockauto.com. Patriots fans, when we need the definitive word on any and all things Patriots salary cap, especially when a former NFL MVP is set to enter the Foxborough fold,

we seek the wisdom and counsel of the best there is. And my guest today is the most knowledgeable source when it comes to anything and everything related to the Patriots salary cap. He is among the best followers on Twitter that you can find anywhere. You know him as the Pats cap. He is my good friend, Miguel Benzon. And it is my honor to bring his wisdom and counsel back to the podcast today. Welcome back to Lockdown Patriots, my friend. Thank you so much for joining me. Oh, I love coming on. I love being on this podcast. I keep on saying every time I'm on, your introductions put a smile on my face. This is my favorite daily Patriots-related podcast. I listen to it. I might not listen to it every day, but at least when I'm behind,

I binge. And I swear, your coverage last last week and a couple weeks ago when you were talking about you had the other hosts talking about how their experience with racism that got to me. As a person of color, it really got to me, and I appreciate the Lockdown Patriots trying to raise money to help us get over the stigma of racism. I'm not going to say, you know, I'm hoping that my nieces' children and nephews' children and their grandchildren don't have to deal with what I had to deal with, and I'm just hoping everybody just helps out in whatever way to make this place, America, a better

place. I'm sorry. No, don't apologize. That is so well said. And believe me when I tell you that's the greatest compliment that I can receive on Lockdown Patriots. And I think I speak for my colleagues here at Lockdown across the network. We're only doing a small part of what needs to be done. But all the small parts accumulated can do big things. And that's what we're trying to do.

We're trying to make this society an equal and a great society for everyone. So thank you so much for the compliment on that. And we'll we'll keep going. We'll keep doing whatever is necessary. We'll keep doing whatever is in our hearts to make sure that everyone's equal and that everyone is is happy and safe in America, because that's what this country is all about when it comes right down to it. Equality and safety for all. So thank you so much for that, my friend. That really means a lot to us all. All right. All right. OK, so let's get down to it, my friend. You know, I use the term the best in the business to describe you, buddy.

And I know you say that my introductions make you smile, but I assure you it comes directly from the heart. It's not an exaggeration when I say that you're the best of the best. Whenever I have a question on the salary cap, you're my first source. Quite frankly, buddy, you're the only one that I need. So in that regard, you're very welcome. By your most recent calculation, now this is accounting for the Cam Newton deal, which, folks, at the time we're recording this podcast, has not officially been announced by the team,

but it's come out from guys like Schefter and Rappaport. So we're pretty confident this is what the deal looks like. Your calculations, Miguel, have the Patriots sitting at $263,489 in cap space. Now, we saw earlier this morning the tweet by Ian Rappaport, all but officially a one-year deal for the Patriots and Cam. The team guarantees him just $550,000 on a $1.05 million total base. Now, it's a low-risk reward without any question. $700,000, according to Ian Rappaport, in per-game roster bonuses, and another $5.75 million in incentives. So a max deal potential

of $7.5 million in all. The questions on questions on everybody's mind buddy is what does this deal mean for the patriots this year and beyond and what corresponding moves could be made to free up cap space because it seems like having less than 300 000 is not exactly the best ideal situation financially for the pats heading into the season floor Floor is yours, my friend. Okay, so folks, get a glass of water or some drinking because I'm going to be talking for a while. Okay, let's just talk about the Cam Newton thing first, all right? Cam Newton, for now, is counting against the cap at a very low number. I can't – $1.1 million.

I'm just going to round it off to keep it simple, all right? And so – and we're talking about that 46 – the active roster bonus, and I slipped it. I slipped up, folks. I said 46 million active is now 48. But I got to keep on saying active. Oh, my gosh. That cracks me up.

I made that mistake. All right. So what's going to happen right now, because he only played – was active for two games last year, he only has to – active roster right now is only counting against the cap as $87,500. After each game that he is active, the Patriots will lose $43,750 in cap space. All right? Interesting. Right. So that $700,000 that he can earn,

the Patriots are going to have to have a cushion at the beginning of the season just in case he makes the team and he's active for all 16 games. All right? That's the same thing with David Andrews and Brandon King. They played in zero games, active of zero games last year so soon week one David Andrews plays all right is active the patient to lose $25,000 in cap space all right and I'll say this this above may be the only place you get I'll say this on my Twitter feed for fun now I'm telling you right now the patients have to count and

reason to go back to circle everything back together the patient of that count if let's say all the people with active roster bonuses play our active for all 16 games the patient's gonna lose close to 2.7 million dollars in cap space alright because of that so like as Mike you said earlier they have pay of less than three hundred thousand dollars right now right now doesn't really matter right, how much you have right now in the beginning of June doesn't really matter. What matters is what you end the season with. Like, I don't – people always – and people make all these tweets. They don't have – oh, they don't have enough to make rent.

They could pay me, blah, blah, blah. Those nice, funny things to say, bottom line, those are just jokes. Because we all know for a fact the Patriots have to create cap space. For whatever reason, they've chosen not to do so. All right? I could create up to $30 million in cap space, all right, by several moves. But we'll get back to that later.

So let's finish up with the Cam Newton thing. So his cap number, because if he plays in every game, could go up, all right? So we know that. So it could go up to, all right, so it can go up to $1.75 million if he's active for all 16 games. So let's say he plays well and earns all of his incentives, all right? If he does, it does not affect the 2020 cap, all right? What's going to happen at the end of each year, next year, is they're going to figure out what player would not likely to burn

incentives earned them. What players would likely to be earned incentives did not earn them. They do a netting. I do this. I keep track of that. And they come up with a number. Folks, you want

Cam Newton to earn his incentives. Because he earns incentives, that means he's done well. All right? Good point. Right? And if he earns incentives, and if he does earn incentives, we don't know what the incentives are right now. This is a podcast-only thing.

All right? Folks, right now, remember all those deals they signed in March with the players I still don't know the details because of the problem with the pandemic and all this stuff they laid I don't know what they did they furloughed laid off the people who do the data entry for the NFLPA I still do not know the the details of the exact details of the of the incentives for the people who signed in March it may take me and the guys like who have access on NFL PA like Ben Bolin Ian

field Yates and Mike Reese months before we find out the exact details of Cam Newton maybe they may be earlier because he's Cam Newton all right they're not gonna people around not gonna make a big deal about Adrian Cam Newton. Maybe it'll be earlier because he's Cam Newton. Alright? People around are not going to make a big deal about Adrian Phillips as incentives. Alright? So that's... That 5.75 mile... I can't tell you if it's

for wins or for TDs or anything. Those tiers. The Patriots do it like a tier. With incentives, I guarantee you, it's for tiers. Like if he has plays in... If he throws for 1,000 yards, 2,000 yards, 3,000 yards, whatever, something like that. It's a tearing system. I can't tell you that.

I'm not expecting because of the pandemic. I'm not expecting to know that until maybe sometime in the fall. All right? You know what I'm saying? Okay, so that's so in the hat. And then so what's going to happen next year? So let's – we don't know. No one knows right now, and that cracks me up,

that people keep on saying that they know what the cap number is going to be, cap space number is. No one knows because no one knows how many games out of 256 regular season games are going to be played in front of how many fans. And that really depends on – that creates revenue. If you don't know – and revenue, the cap depends on the revenue they have this year. The 2001 cap depends on the revenue they have this year. And we don't know – my guess is that NFL and the NFLPA will do something to prop up the cap by borrowing from future years.

But they haven't told us that, and they're not going to tell us that. And the reason they're not going to tell us that is because those NFL teams are asking their season team fans to send in money. I don't think it was a coincidence that the Patriots, some teams asked, had their deadline for sending in money for season tickets on June 30th, and on July 1st it says, oh, we're not playing all pro season games. It wasn't, I don't think it was, I'm being, call me a cynic,

but I don't think it was a coincidence. They got, so now you get, you paid, some of the season ticket fans paid for a season ticket game that got canceled, so they had to get their money back. That team, the team's going to earn interest on that money. It's not, you know, I'm being a cynic, the team's going to earn interest on that money. I'm being a cynic. You can call me a cynic.

That's fine. But I don't – if you listen to me, you know I'm for the players. I think the owners, they have done things to maximize their revenues. I've said this before to Mike. I don't think all 31 teams, because the Packers are publicly owned, all 31 teams doing their best to win. I think right now they're going to use their car to do what they do to maximize their revenues. So I think that addresses the first part about Cam Newton.

Is that accurate, Mike? Do you have anything else about Cam Newton? No, I think that was great insight. And I love the fact that you actually correlated what Cam's signing and whatnot does for the salary cap implications for the Patriots as a whole, even leading into what's going to happen next season, which a lot of people don't know. Like you said, there's a lot of uncertainty as to how many fans are going to be in the stands for these games, if any, how that's going to affect the salary cap next year and what this means beyond. I think a lot of people saw this again, and I've characterized it several times here on

Locked On Patriots. It's a low risk, high reward deal. But the intricate details that you provide give us a much clearer picture. So I appreciate that so much. And I think it gives us a clear insight as to exactly what the Patriots saw in Cam. They saw the opportunity that this was a very affordable deal, and they struck while the iron was hot. And even though it wasn't necessarily hot for the majority of the offseason, it ended up coming together just when the Patriots needed it. But again, we get back to that salary cap situation that the Patriots find themselves in right now with less than $300,000.

We've heard rumors about extending Joe Tooney. We've heard rumors about extending Dante Hightower. We've heard rumors about cutting guys like Rex Burkhead or maybe even Mohamed Sanu because of the cap hits that they have. Logistically, I would love to see all four of those players on the field in a Patriots uniform this year. But on more of logistics, I'm thinking of this X's and O's. You're the financial expert. How do you think the Patriots are going to approach freeing up some salary cap space this year? Okay.

They don't have to do anything like Micah said earlier. They don't have to do anything to cut down. And we don't know when the cut down is going to be. All right? They have enough cap space right now to operate until they get into week one. Right? The problem is, I'll say this.

Now, this is going to be, I love, folks, this is going to be a broadcast only thing. Remember, let's say they've been talking about dropping the rosters from the 90 man to 75 to 80, all right, who's most likely going to get cut? The guys, the undrafted free agents, or the guys who were on

the practice squad last year. If it's the guys on the practice squad last year, it's not going to really affect the Patriots' salary cap. But lo and behold, if it's the guys, the undrafted free agents, who had guaranteed salary money, the Patriots are going to have to do something. Because you cut a couple of guys who got $100,000 in salary guaranteed. Lo and behold, when you cut that player, that $100,000 in guaranteed now counts against the cap. It wasn't counting against the cap now, but it will count against the cap when they get cut. You cut three of those players, there goes your cap space. All right?

So when you folks, if they listen to this, remember this. Like Mike says, you say about this phrase, what's your phrase about keeping on track on things? All right? If they lower their rosters and they pay just a half a cutting, undrafted free agents, that might force the Patriots to make a move to create cap space, because if they, especially if they cut the guys with a lot of high guaranteed salary amounts, all right, so let's talk about how they can create the cap space. All right. Now, there are several ways they do it. All right. Joe Tooney's deadline to reach an extension with him is 4 p.m. July 15th. All right. So we'll know in a couple of weeks, less than a couple of weeks. Right. Because today's the second. So in 13 days, we'll know what's going to happen with Joe Tooney cap number. It's either going to be what it is or they dropped it off.

All right? You could create $4 to $6 million in cap space with him. All right? You can create cap space with Howard extending Hightower. You can create cap space with Gilmore. Then you can cut the guy like Ellamore. Wise. You maybe convert some of

Shaq Mason's salary into a signing bonus. Maybe you say to Mohamed Sanu, hey, let's drop your salary to $4 million but give you the chance to earn the money back or even more money back via incentives. Alright? You can cut Burkhead. If I did, like, I listed, what, eight things? but give you the chance to earn the money back or even more money back via incentives. All right?

You can cut Burkhead. If I did – like if I listed, what, eight things? Right? There was eight things, right? Yeah, right. Eight things. That gets – that creates $31 million in cap space. Those eight things.

But that's being generous with some tuning. But that's some – I can create $25 to $30 million in cap space with just those eight moves. When you did your 53-man roster projection, folks, a couple weeks ago, Mike created over $3 million in cap space. And he had some surprising cuts, Mike. You had some surprising cuts, Mike. Yeah, that was tough. Yeah, and that still right? Yeah. That was tough. Yeah.

And that still wasn't enough. Right? And remember, Mike, the Patriots, every team is going to have put players on IR. You don't have anyone. Because no one can predict right now who's going to get hurt during the preseason. All right? Right. Obviously, your 53-man roster presumes that everyone's healthy.

But no one knows. That's going to be incorrect. But no one can ding you for that because no one knows who's going to get injured. But you can always think of the Patriots that's going to start the season with a couple players on IR. We know a couple people are going to get hurt during the year, so you're going to replace them.

So the Patriots usually average, but I usually don't start to turn it in for about $7 to $10 million in cap space. In the years they didn't, like for example, they

immediately restructured brady's deal or rob nikovich retired that creating cap space you're saying something like that one of those things happened something create more cap space pages with less than 300,000 dollars right now gonna have to create cap space how they do it we don't know all right and i'm saying like they go into the roster and here's the thing with them, like Elmore and DJ Dwight, if they start training camp,

you're taking a chance. They get injured. And then you have to place them on IR for the rest of the year. And then if you do, and they get, let's say Elmore gets hurt and he's IR. His cap number's staying on the cap you can't cut an injured player all right he has no he has no reason if i was him i have he has no reason

it's the first time he would have made over two million dollars in a set yeah he has no reason to agree to an injury settlement right all right yeah no incentive yeah he has no incentive so when they talk about when they go circling back to that roster thing cutting the lower in the rosters it's going to be some of those guys they cut it's going to be some guys do you want to really take a chance to get hurt while they're if they get hurt if they play and go into training camp because once you're on the injured injury you're going to either pay that guy injury settlement if he thinks he can play in a couple of weeks, or he's on your cap for especially Wise and Elmore for their $2 million cap hit.

Okay, so that's the other thing they have to worry about, the circle in the back, about the whole big thing about the money. So the other thing is they could – there's several ways of creating cap space. I know they're going to do it. I just don't know how they're going to do it. My guess is I wouldn't be buying a house if I was Eleanor Moore. I wouldn't be buying a house if I was Wise. If JJ Taylor shows up in training camp,

I'll be nervous if I was Rex Burkhead. All right? You know, it's like I would expect that they extend someone to lower their cap number. Who it is, I don't know. I personally go with Joe Tooney, but I'm not running the team. Yeah, so, but, you know, they have the ways they can do it. I'm not worried about it.

I mean, I think it's – I understand what they did and not getting – having a low cap number this entire pretty much offseason because cap space is just a tool to get you talent. It's no reason to have, they could have created $30 million, but what's the point of creating that cap space

if you don't think there's this talent out there to get there? I'm surprised. I personally would want them to get another defensive tackle or two. I personally want them to get another defensive tackle or two, like Tim Juergen or something like that to beef up the defensive line and maybe get some

like Everson Griffin. You think if you want to get some more pass rushing, that's what I'm saying, but I understand why the teams are not doing it because of the pandemic. I said to my sister a couple of weeks ago that a team could win a Super Bowl by signing a couple of outstanding veterans right now. And that's one of the reasons I laughed when I first heard about the Cam Newton thing, right? Because I never thought, I never thought when I said that to my sister, I didn't think it

was going to be the Patriots signing a former MVP, all right? I just didn't think that. And I wanted to circle back about some, about this is the thing that's going to be said, this is a podcast only. Other reason I laughed is that it was the same day I saw a tweet about the Patriots being a bad salary cap management.

And I'm saying because they had low cap space. I mean, like, literally, they had the least amount of cap space. They've had the least amount of cap space since June 2nd. You're just now noticing it? They've had very... It's true. And they've had a very least amount of cap space since June 2nd. You're just now noticing it? It's true.

They've had a very low amount of cap space the entire offseason. Now, you're saying this now, and you're talking about the bad salary cap management. Okay. I was obvious. I saw the tweet. I didn't engage in the tweet with the person because because to me he was just tweeting to

get attention all right so and I'm not gonna give him attention I just don't want it's like whatever all right so I saw the tweet and I'm thinking he doesn't mention how the Patriots have build a Ross believe in strong middle class so they have 39 players with a cap hit at least a million dollars that's folks i'm guaranteeing you right now that's the most in the nfl and that's on the and that is not and it's not close maybe buffalo has 35 it's 35 or 36 but it's they lead the league that's what do. They believe in a strong middle class. People say, what are they spending their money on? They got, you know, they got

the highest dead money ever that since I've been tracking it. All right. Um, so that, that I read that tweet and I'm just thinking, wow, geez, they sign, they could have made the best free agent signing of the offseason. And if a couple of them draft picks show out, you know, like whatever, one of the tight ends, one of their edge guys do well, this could be the year that Bill Belichick wins GM for the year award. Well, we all live in hope. We always hear about how bad Bill the GM is.

Yeah, but that's why I started laughing. It would be ironic. I'm not saying he will, but what he needs to happen, for him to win right now, it's like, okay, he has to have a draft that's considered good and to have bill and cam newton beat to play well and i'm saying he might be a lifetime achievement because how i'm still i am sorry i almost swore all right sorry but i'm still less than happy that he did not win the GM award in 2014. And it went to Jerry Jones, who had to get tucked out of drafting Johnny Manziel.

Those are some things that I was just so mad. I was like, and I blame the beat writers for that because they don't understand the salary cap. Because that was the year that I thought they made salary cap wise. Patriots made a tremendous amount of moves like they they they traded mankins to create the cap space to get the guys during the season like akim ears and stuff like that they did you know they signed reavers to that great deal i'm saying so i don't know how you not oh that we got to keep on focusing on 2020. All right. No, no, no. It's great stuff. Okay.

So I was like, this could be the year that Bill Belichick finally wins GM of the year. Finally wins. All right. And that's why I wanted to talk about it. Because Dave Brown had a huge, he was making sarcastic, He was making fun of that tweet and asking me a question. I was like, I wanted to talk. I already knew I wrote this thing. That was my first thing when I was going to talk about it.

I wanted to talk about it. It was that bad cap management tweet. You know, say, folks, and the funny thing is, we're two years, we're two off seasons away from them winning the Super Bowl. Two off seasons away from them winning the Super Bowl, and off-seasons away from them winning the Super Bowl, and we're talking about the Patriots being bad salary cap managers. Please, folks. No, it's true.

I mean, we hear it. We do hear the narrative all the time, and it's one of those things where I think people have become so accustomed to Bill finding a way to keep this team in contention, keep them in Super Bowl contention, that we forget all the little steps it takes to get to that level. It's not just all about X's and O's on the field and being the evil genius that knows more about the intricate details of the way the game is played. Bill has done so much behind the scenes when it comes to a general manager's position,

when it comes to managing the cap, even the draft. We see him constantly get knocked for picks that don't work out or salary cap moves that don't work out. But the Patriots are always in contention. They have to be doing something right. If they were mismanaging their cap or mismanaging their draft or their operations that badly, they would not be in contention for all these years.

There's no question about it. And I'll say this. The people say it's always – it's just all Brady, all right? So Brady's been on the Patriots for 20 years. He's won six Super Bowls. So what happened to the other 14 years? All right, like literally, so what did he do not to win the – it was always Brady.

Like, and I'm – if you saw the 2001 team, you cannot – and you watch that game every day, you're telling me that Tom Brady was the best player on that team? No, he wasn't. Come on. It was Ty Law. I would even go Richard Seymour. There were better players on that team than Tom Brady. He plays the most important position.

But if you told me I was surprised, wouldn't, like, I was surprised. I was actually at that game. I was surprised to learn after the game that he won the MVP. I thought it was a guy on the defense that was going to win it. Had won it. You know what I'm saying? So it's like, they give the quarterbacks way too much credit, you know,

and too much blame. But, whatever. Okay, so what else we wanted to talk about? Because I know we got like 45 minutes. So I wanted to make, the other thing I wanted

to bring up is like, I thought it was funny. Another thing, the reason I laughed is like, geez, wow. Maybe Cam Newton beats out Gronk for Cam comeback

player of the year. You know what I'm saying? Because I'm like, I love Tom Brady and I love Rob, and my wife loves Rob Gronkowski. But I'm really,

they're on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I ain't really sick or tired of hearing about them. I'm like i love tom brady i love rob and my wife loves rob gronkowski but i'm really they're on the tampa bay buccaneers i'm really sick and tired of hearing about them i'm like i'm just gonna let it go i'm like let it go let them go yeah like focus on the hearing now it's true here and now they're gone i'm like all right i wish them well hope they do well but i don't you know but i'm focused on the Patriots. As we all should up here in Foxborough, and I think you're absolutely right on that. Again, this is why you are on that very short list of being the best of the best on all things salary cap and really all things Patriots related, folks. In fact, I started calling him the Pats cap top gun, the best of the best. And you kind of chuckle when I say that.

But it's the truth. It's the truth. You really, really are. And I can't thank you enough for always lending your wisdom and counsel. And next up here on Locked On, Patriots, folks, in a segment that is unique to this podcast, Miguel will address some of those salary cap myths floating around out there. It's always my honor to give him the platform to set the record straight. Do not miss this next right here on the Locked On Patriots podcast.

Patriots fans, I have absolutely no doubt that your heads are overflowing with knowledge from Miguel Benzon. And as much information as he's provided, he hasn't even yet had the chance to set the record straight. So today's conversation was so nice, we're going to do it twice. Back for part two tomorrow here on Locked On Patriots, will be my good friend the Pats cap. And he'll give you some additional insight on what the Patriots might do to free up some cap space. And of course, last but certainly not least, we are always honored here on Locked On Patriots

to provide Miguel with the platform to set the record straight. Debunk a lot of those salary cap myths that are floating around out there. Folks, if you thought today's conversation was action-packed and informative, you definitely will not want to miss tomorrow. So to ensure you don't miss tomorrow's episode or any episode of Locked On Patriots, please be sure to follow us on Spotify, Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts. And of course, you can always listen to Locked On Patriots right on your very own smart device. How can you do that?

Very simple. Just ask it to play the latest episode of Locked On Patriots. And if you've enjoyed today's podcast, now tell your smart device to play the latest episode of Locked On Fantasy Football. Once again, I'm Mike DeBate. I thank my good friend Miguel Benzon for his time, insight, and appearance today. I thank him again in advance

for joining me here again tomorrow on Locked On Patriots. But most of all, I thank you so much for listening and for staying locked in to the Locked On Patriots podcast. Stay safe, stay well, be the change you wish to see in the world.

Have a great day, everyone.