Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Foxboro Finance: Patriots Free Agency Primer with PatsCap — 3/11/22

Episode Date: March 12, 2022

With the commencement of the 2022 NFL free agency period about to begin in the NFL, the New England Patriots are among the teams under the closest watch, especially wine it comes to their financial bottom line. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Miguel ‘PatsCap’ Benzan, as the duo discuss the process of clearing salary cap space, potential free agent signings and in a segment unique to Locked On Patriots, Miguel sets the record straight on the various cap myths making their way throughout Patriots social media.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Patriots fans, free agency is about to begin. It's time to talk finances, and if you know it's Finance Friday, you know my guest is the all-powerful Wizard of Benzahn himself, Miguel Benzahn, joins me here to talk Patriots finances and free agency. I'm Mike DeBate, and you are about to be locked in to the Locked On Patriots podcast. You are Locked On Patriots podcast. You are locked on Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello to all of you Foxborough faithful.

Welcome to the weekend and welcome to the cusp of the start of the 2022 NFL League year and free agency right here on Locked On Patriots. Folks, thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots your first listen every day. Remember, Locked On Patriots free and available on all platforms. I'm your host, Mike DeBate. I also cover your New England Patriots for Patriot Maven of Sports Illustrated. Please feel free to reach out to me, interact with me, let me know what's on your mind on Twitter at M-D-A-B-A-T-E-N-F-L. And while you're out there showing some weekend love to that Twitterverse, please be

sure to follow the Locked On Patriots account as well. And of course, Pats fans, you heard me say it in the opening. It's what you've been waiting for. Free agency just a few short days away. The 2022 league year beginning on Wednesday, March 16th. Of course, the legal tampering period. That starts on Monday, March 14th. And we here at Locked On are not all that technologically savvy just yet.

So I'll give you all a minute to laugh at the term legal tampering. You can see my guest is already getting a jump start on that. And we'll move on. It is time to talk finance, and who else would I be welcoming today but the best of the best. He is the goat of goats. I said this the last time he came on the pod. I'm going to say it to our new YouTube audience. Whenever I get a chance to share the microphone or now the video screen with this man, I truly feel that I'm in the presence of the Mozart of financial wisdom when it comes to Foxborough.

He is the great and powerful Wizard of Benzano. Most importantly, he's my great friend and one of the best people that you'll meet in any walk of life. The Pats cap himself is here today, folks. Miguel Benzon joins me. Welcome to the pod, my good man. I love being on this podcast. I absolutely love being on this podcast. I think you're doing great work.

I love the article on DJ Jock. Hopefully we get time to talk about him. Yeah, I hope so as well. I think New England Patriots fans are clamoring for that number one wide out. They want the weapons, Miguel, and you're going to be the one to tell them how to do it. No, I'm kidding inside, folks. Miguel is the finance guru. And of course, Bud, you know as well as I do, this is going to be a busy week for you especially, my friend. My pre-condolences for your mentions because because this man's phone his twitter is going to be

blowing up um right now as we're speaking and of course over the weekend some folks may be watching this listening to this miguel you know that there are chances that the patriots may be clearing some cap space even as we speak but right now according to your calculations 10 million 205 945 under the cap according to your estimation and I saw you tweet this out earlier, not enough to be able to operate throughout the year. You and I both know the Patriots are not done. They're going to make some moves. In terms of clearing cap space, all-powerful wizard, what are the Patriots going to do over the course of the next three days to get them ready to start the 2022 league year and beyond?

Okay, they're going to make some moves. We don't know what. Bill doesn't have me on his direct DM. I don't even know if he's not a DM. All right. Not a big social media guy, Bill. We'll just go over some moves I think they're going to make. All right?

I think they're going to convert most of Matthew Judon's salary into a signing bonus. All right? I think they could do the same for Jalen Mills. I think they – I said this before, and I know Clay has heard me. Classy Clay has heard me. I think they might extend Hunter Henry and create $5 million in cap space. Or I should say the numbers with Matthew Judon. Matthew Judon is $6.643 million.

Jalen Mills is $2.31 million. All right? If they got Jake Bailey, who has a – his salary is $3.986 million because he got to the Pro Bowl in 2020. All right? So if they – the Patriots think that his level of play is going to be in the future,

because remember, folks, when you sign a free agent or re-sign a free agent or sign an outside free agent, you're paying them for future production. If you think that Jake Bailey is going to play like he did in 2021, you're going to cut or trade him. If you think

he's going to play like he did in 2020,'re gonna cut or trade him if you think he's like he's gonna play like he did in 2020 you're gonna extend them so you have to so i don't know what they feel like all right and we'll know we'll know what they feel like by their actions all right if they extend them they like them and then an extension create about 2.4 million dollars in cap space all right okay um they already did one of those things cut calvary all right so then i have a list of guys they had options with and they got dive on gacha all right you could extend them creating about 2.7 million dollars in cap space you could cut them creating 4.295 million dollars in cash space or you could trade him and create $6.795 million in cap space. And the difference between those two numbers, the cut and trade, is because he has $2.75 million in dead – he has some dead money, $2.5 million in dead money.

Excuse me, in guaranteed salary. So when you trade that player, the responsibility of paying that guaranteed salary goes to his new team, alright you could cut Henry Anderson but people I got a DM today

telling me they would be surprised if they cut him today, alright, because I'm wearing you know, I said this on Twitter I'm hoping, I don't know if you can this on Twitter. I'm hoping I don't know if you can see this, but I'm wearing a Yates, got a Yates t-shirt because I was hoping Phil Lates who used to work for the Patriots

hoping they would spur on a Patriots transaction today. Of course, this might happen while we're recording the podcast, which we won't know. It'll be the funniest thing, Mike, if we had a news break while we're on the show. It would be. It wouldn't be the first time.

We've broken a couple of pieces of news here on Lockdown Patriots. Nothing to that effect yet, but we live in hope, my friend. Live in hope. Live in hope. That 10.2 number could change off the top of my head if it's a cut because I could do that easily.

Cody Davis, what do you do with him? All right. You know, if you cut him, you create about $1 million in cap space. All right. I'm just throwing out ideas. Jonathan Jones, before I had him on my list as a cut and trade. Now that since I didn't tag Jonathan Jones, it's more likely they'll extend him and that could create $2 million in cap space.

And for the third straight year, Shaq Mason comes up on my Twitter timeline as a cut. I have no idea why. I do know why because he's got a $10 million cap hit. I thought he

played well last year. All right? So my personal preference with Shaq Mason would be to extend him. All right? Right. And then we got Nelson Aguilar. All right? Yeah.

Popular name out there in New England right now. Popular name out there, folks. Popular or infamous. I mean, one of the two. But yeah, he's- Infamous. They're talking about him. Okay, folks, because he has a $5 million

guaranteed salary, you create more cap space by trading them than you would by cutting them. But if you cut them, you would then hope that some team would pick them up, and then you would get a credit on the 2023 cap.

Same deal with Nikhil same thing same deal with nikhil harry same same deal with as i went isaiah went laurence guy's got a interesting situation going on because he has one million of his salary fully guaranteed on the third day of the league year so the pages have some time to do if he makes it past the third day of the league year so the Patriots have some time to do if he makes it past that third day I doubt that proves that he's going to keep him on all right so I think they're going to do something with if they're going to do something cut them they're going to do it before that deadline all right so those are the ways Mike we they can create cap space and and if you know they can create cap space Mike um can create cap space, Mike, depending on what they want to do. I've said this before.

If they want to go... If we cut Shaq Mason, if we cut John, and we make some tough cuts, and I'm not saying that they will, you can create $66 million in cap space if you want it, which is a crazy number.

I didn't use any void deals. So they could create more cap space with other void deals. So they could create cap space. They haven't done so. And I did want to address this because they don't need, folks. Today is March 11th.

Free agency legally starts on March 16th. At 4pm.m. So they can make all the moves they need to make to create cap space to sign free agents at 9 a.m. in the morning on March 16th. So, folks, be patient. Be patient. Good point. I'm so glad that you mentioned that because it is a situation where people think that in order to start these negotiations in the legal tampering period, that that cap space has to be cleared in advance.

It's a nice thing to know that they do have until Wednesday. And you know, Miguel, we've talked about this several times here, either offline or on the Locked On Patriots. I've talked about it with several guests. Claire and I mentioned it earlier this week. The New England Patriots are an 11th hour team. They do things at the last minute. It's just the way they do business.

Much after a man like my own heart, I'm always late for everything. I was late to log on to this podcast, and Miguel was very good about not reaming me out for that. But all kidding aside, actually, I made the Pat's cap wait, folks. You want to talk about something that is egregious? Right here. But all kidding aside, my friend, when you look at this Patriots roster now now that we know that they can clear the space and how they might go about doing it uh you're hearing a lot of external names some of the names out there Alan Robinson you're hearing possible

trades for people like Robbie Anderson Amari Cooper uh Bobby Wagner now is a hot name out there on the defensive side of the ball uh but also internal free agents that a lot of people are concerned about. Talked a lot about J.C. Jackson last time you were here, Devin LaFordi. You know, absolutely. I know. I think we all were. You know, I expected that to happen as well. There are external and internal names that the Patriots are pursuing. You look into your Belichickian crystal ball. Is there a move that makes just a ton of sense for cap space for you or just in your own personal one? Is there a move out there that you think the Patriots are going to make or that you would say, yeah, this is likely based on finances that they have at their disposal? I know Matthew Slater wants to play another year.

I was surprised, but I thought he was going to retire. Mike, I said this before, right? It makes a ton of sense for him to re-sign with the Patriots the same deal that James White did last year. So he would count very little against the cap for a veteran. But still would get paid not as much as he did in cash, close to what he did last year. So he's not going to be taking that much of a pay cut, but his cap impact would be less because a good deal of that money he would receive would be considered a benefit.

The new thing in the 2027 CBA would have this called this four-year rule. So you had to have been on a team for at least four years. He would definitely, he would qualify james white qualified for last qualified last year i think that's the move that's gonna gonna happen all right which is good for me because i he's matthew slade is my favorite player on the on the roster right now i had predicted he he'd retire because I just thought he would retire. I also think that

how to put this politely, I am not sure that he's the best special teams player on the roster right now. I think Cody Davis has surpassed him. I know that Matthew Slater got to the Pro Bowl last year.

I'm not sure if I take my Matthew Slater bias out of it, I'm not sure that he should have gotten it over Cody Davis. We'll see, folks. I know a lot of people come at me because Matthew Slater

is well-loved, and he should be. But that's why I think with the salary hierarchy between Bethel and Cody Davis, I'm not sure the Patriots want to put him that much more above those two guys. So I think he's going to get the four-year treatment. Yeah. Okay, so I think that answers your question no i mean it definitely does i mean in terms of matthew slater and then uh you know the the prowess that he shows on the field i think you make a lot of sense in terms of that i think matthew would be the first to admit that you know he's not the same player he was a few years ago i think some of the pro bowl selection

was a lot of the matthew slater effect but you know with the career the guys had with everything that he's done you know to argue with the with the selection and I'm not saying that you are, but to argue with the selection. Yeah. I mean, he got there and I think most people would be fine with that, but I would love to see him come back as well. James White, I think is a guy that showed a lot of synergy with Mac Jones last year before he got injured. So, you know, these are the types of moves that the new England Patriots were, I think, more apt to make. I've gone on record, it's been argued by me, the defense, Vince Liguari-Gambini here, to say that the New England Patriots are probably going to build this roster a little more through the draft and free agency.

Do you think that the finances bear that out? Do you agree with that? Or do you think there's a big splash to be made here? I think there's going to be a big splash. I just don't know who, because by definition, we don't know who it is. All right? I think the Patriots have each year have done something throughout the offseason

that has surprised me. Okay? It could be coming in March or could be coming in September. I don't know. I think it's going to more likely. Well, I think it's more likely to happen in March than in September. We'll see.

For me, that's the fun part of being a fan during the offseason. Right. That's the fun part. To see what happens. The waiting part is okay because i'm i'm fortunate i'm working so i don't have to be here you know working during the days i don't have to really look at my twitter feed and see nothing happen right no it's because the watch never boils folks no you're you're absolutely right and you know i mean these types of moves that the new england

patriots can make, and I'm glad you said about the splash because it's definitely good to know that it's possible. We're hearing a lot from, you know, from, you know, Twitter people and whatnot. We're hearing a lot from, you know, beat writers, you know, that the Patriots just don't have the financial wherewithal to make that big splash. It's nice to know that they do have at least a shot at it. I've seen that on my timeline. Just because the Patriots

have $10 million in cap space today doesn't mean on March 16th they're going to have $10 million in cap space. They can make moves between now and then. Let me take a deep breath. Take those feelings, my friend, and bottle it because in just a moment.

It's just so annoying, Mike, to have people say the cap is so flexible. If they could cut someone today, two, three, four, five people today. They could make a couple of trades today. They could restructure a couple of contracts today. Folks, if you're cutting a player, you could do it quickly split. If you're trading the player, you don't need the player's permission. You just need

to get another team to trade for him. Absolutely. If you're asking the player to extend him and you pay him what he wants, a deal is done like that. The hard part is when you're asking the player to extend him and you pay him what he wants, a deal is done like that. All right? The high part is when you're asking the player to take a pay cut.

Other than that, or you guys fundamentally disagree on the player's value. All right? Other than that, the other stuff like extending Matthew, converting salary into signing bonus, that's just easy stuff to do. Right.

I don't, it's all they can't do because they have now they can't do it. They can't, because they can't sign a play on the 16th because now they don't have the cap space. That is so silly. Again, you know what,

but you always lend the wisdom in council. I say that all the time, but the wisdom in council, the financial wisdom in council that you lend to me is second to none. And now that we got you in a moot, I think it's a good opportunity for us to set the table for you to set the record straight. Folks, in a segment

unique to Locked On Patriots, my good friend, the Pats cap, will set the record straight on all those various cat myths floating around out there. He does that when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. But first, folks, football might be over for the season. Not the transaction part of it, but the football on the field.

But basketball is in full steam for both pro and college hoops. March Madness just about to begin. Baseball is back. It's still a great time to be a sports fan. For all the latest odds, totals, player performance props, to who's going to end up where and when. BetOnline.net is the number one spot for all your sports betting needs. And it's not just basketball, folks, or baseball.

BetOnline is your source for hockey, boxing, UFC odds, whatever your preference, BetOnline has you covered. They remain the best spot for all of your sports scores, podcasts, and news this season. Head to the website today or use your mobile device to learn more about the trends in action. Then online where the game starts. That's fans once again. My good friend, the esteemed Wizard of Benzón himself, Miguel Benzón, joins me here today to close the week in style and get you ready for free agency. And Miguel, in the previous segment we talked a lot about ways in which the Patriots might clear some cap space we talked about our

preferences about what the Patriots should do in free agency and you also started the process of letting everyone know that just because the ledger reads 10 million 10.5 or whatever the 10 million dollar figure that we read earlier is doesn't mean that's what it's going to be when the league year opens or when the Patriots are ready to start making moves. That's just one of the ways in which you set the record straight. And it's a segment unique to this pod, bud. We always love to give you a platform to be able to set the record straight. I know you got a lot to get off your chest, so I'm going to shut up, and I'm going to give you the opportunity to do it. Go ahead, my friend.

The floor is yours. Set the record straight and take Patriots fans into the 2022 season with the knowledge they need. Okay, so, folks, I should tell people who haven't heard this that I actually keep a track of this for Mike, all right? So I know I come on the show and I keep track of it. So I had five things we addressed for. We were just one.

All right. So the first thing I want to talk about is tagging JC Jackson. You heard in a timeline. They couldn't have done it because I would have put them over the cap. Folks, you don't have to be under your adjusted cap number on March 8th, which was the tag deadline. All you have to do is be underneath the adjusted cap number on March 16th. Eight teams tagged their players.

Four of them. The Chiefs, the Packers, the Cowboys. Oh, my gosh. I'm going to forget someone. The Chiefs, Cowboys. Okay. Under the cap right now. I just forgot the other player.

Forgot the other team. Four out of the eight are now still over the cap right now i just forgot the other player forgot the other team four out of the eight are now on or still over the cap so this idea that they could not have tagged jc jackson because i would have put them over the cap is incorrect all right the other thing i still continue to get is tagging and trading or why do they tag and trade them it is not as easy as people think all right how many times okay so i'm gonna go over i'm gonna say All right? How many times, okay, so I'm going to go over, I'm going to say this. How many times since 2011 has a corner been tagged and traded? Zero.

Zero. Zero. Zero. In 2012, Brent Grimes was tagged. He played a season on the tag. 2016, Josh Norman was tagged. The Panthers rescind on the tag. 2016, Josh Norman was tagged. The Panthers rescinded the tag. Then he became a free agent.

2016, Tremaine Johnson was tagged, played out the season tagged. 2017, Tremaine Johnson was tagged once again and played out the season. So not one cornerback who has been tagged since 2011. And the reason I go back to 2011, because that was the old CBA before the 2020 CBA. And in 2011, that CBA really changed everything around, especially when it came to compensation,

especially because of how they affected the top of the rookie, rookie, the first round rookies. All right. Yeah. So since 2011, not one cornerback, which is the position that jc jackson plays right has been tagged and traded not one okay so let's look at what the trades and so

and then people i said it was so easy not one one player got tagged and traded in 2021. All right? In 2020, excuse me, I can't see Mike anymore, but okay. All right. Yannick Noah was traded. When was he traded? In August 31st. So they didn't get a draft pick in the 2020 draft. They got a draft pick in 2021. Jonathan Cloudy was tagged in 2019 by the Texans. They had a ton of cap space.

They traded him on September 1st. Okay. And with him tagged on September 1st, they had set $37 million in cap space. So they could afford to carry him all the way through the end of this until the beginning of September at that tag number and then they traded him for a 2020 third pick and they paid him a $7 million signing bonus

to leave the team. Okay. So let's stop competing. Okay. And then G4 traded on March 13th for a 2020 second round pick. Frank Clark was traded for and tagged and traded in 2019 right before the draft for 2019 draft picks. Right? 2018 Jarvis Landry was traded for 2018 draft pick So it's been since 2019 Frank Clark was the last time that a player was tagged and traded

For picks in the upcoming draft The other guys were traded late in the year So I wish the people who say the Patriots could have tagged and traded them would say, hey, this is a team that they should have traded them to and for what? Okay. You're just saying they should have tagged and traded them. That's kind of meaningless to – you should say for what and to whom. Right. Because we live in a real world and you're complaining about something that's really bothering you.

But go to the next level. But we're not getting that on the next level. I said that on my Twitter feed. And some guy says, well, these four teams have done this. And I said, I didn't say it. I asked on Twitter. I said, why doesn't Tag Draven more often? Which is an acknowledgment that it happens.

Right? I didn't say it never happened. I'm just saying it doesn't happen. And I'll say this. I'll ask the people who think the Patriots should have tagged and traded J.C. Jackson. Eight players were tagged this year. How many of those players do you think personally are going to get tagged and traded this year?

If 20 other three teams did not tag a player this year yep why are we focusing on the Patriots saying not tagging and trading JC Jackson okay that's my that's one thing okay that's another thing continuing on in that JC Jackson Jalen Ramsey was not tagged he was not tagged folks all right so so that's not That's total apples and oranges And then the other thing we heard about Was Tyler I think I want to set the metric It's Tyler Lockett

He has an interesting deal All right Somebody said I think right after The Russell Wilson trade Said his cap number would be $3 million for this year well they i they made a mistake all right because they didn't take an account that he has an option bonus that was fully guaranteed in february so a team has and the seahawks have to pay it out 13 million between march 16th and March 20th. If they trade him before they pay him that money,

then it becomes a responsibility of his acquiring team. So then his cap hit is 6.25. It's still cheap. It's still cheap, folks. But it's not 3 million. It's not 3 million. And part of the thing was, was well he has no guaranteed money he's had 16 million dollars in guaranteed money not no money okay so you're like he has a bad season this year you're still on the hook for

three for um 9.75 million dollars of dead money next year all All right? And we don't... That's one thing. Okay, so that's the other thing. And I think that's all my... Because we already talked about the moves thing. So I had five. I think I talked about all five of the myths. All right.

And that's it, Mike. You know what, buddy? To set the record straight just to hear you talk about that stuff and especially the jc jackson and i'm so glad that you mentioned that because i saw that so much on my timeline you get into oh they should have done this and they should have done that i always come back to you're a movie buff just like i am and i always come back to dr ian malcolm in jurassic park you're so concerned with whether or not that you could you don't stop to think if you should and i think that in a lot of ways is i think exactly i think it's it's sometimes you know fans get caught up in it and again i completely understand that and you know beat

writer we all get caught up in it at times but when you stop and take a look at things logically like you always do it always makes sense see that's why you set the record straight but thank you but it it's it's a hard part of being a fan. You've got to stay real, too. I mean, some of these guys, some of these people who come up with these ideas on Twitter, I never would invite them to be on my fantasy football team because I know their trades

offer would be horrendous. Right. Nobody wants that. No, but I hate ridiculous trade offers. I hate the gate office. I should say one thing. Last year, I had made a comment

about someone writing an article about Matt Ryan. WEI goes on a rant, calls me a loser. All right? Because I said they weren't taking the effect of the cap and that the cat the cat wouldn't let them the falcons trade matthew matt ryan lo and behold what happens today they restructure this deal right again that's because they the the cap tells you what's going to happen. And then. I'm just glad.

That my father, who listened to the radio during what I was working during the day, didn't hear them call me a loser. And I still. Mike, I'm going to get choked up. You know, I just, I wish they had enough gumption to say they were wrong. To have them say later, to have Andy Hart and Grash say, oh, I made them prove the point wrong, but I got the, like his salary would be so lower. They missed the point that the Patriots, the Falcons, weren't ever going to trade him during that season. I just wanted to get that off my chest. In a lot of respects. I can't speak for anyone else or anything on that end of it, but to know you personally, to to me is much more of an honor and much more of a privilege in my life than to know you professionally.

Professionally, there's nobody that I respect more when it comes to facts, figures, and the work that you put some of the top names in the business, whether it be Mike Reese of ESPN, whether it be Phil Perry of NBC Sports Boston, Evan Lazar of CLNS Media. I'm not too high up on the food chain, but I'm quoting you all the time in my articles because I'd be lost without you. But most importantly, knowing you personally and getting a chance to know you as a friend, as a human being, to me is one of the best honors that I've had about being in this business. You get a chance to know some really great people. You're at the top of that list. You're at the very short list of people that mean so much to me. So we love you here at Locked On Patriots. I love you personally.

And I'm definitely honored to be your friend and definitely honored to be your colleague. So on that note, folks, I just set the record straight in terms of Miguel. He gave me the opportunity to get that little command back. And I'm honored to have you here each and every time you join me on the microphone. It's a must listen. It's a must view, folks. And you know, this man is great at what he does. I can't wait to watch how this free agent class, this free agent session plays out

for the New England Patriots. Heading into the draft, this is going to be a big topic of conversation. Did the Patriots do enough to build their roster to draft the players they need to contend in 2022? We're going to have you back here real soon to break down all the moves, all the finances, everything, because you don't want to hear it from me, folks.

I'm going to be busy this week. Absolutely. Miguel is loaded with caffeine. He's loaded with just energy, and make sure all your mobile devices are charged up, my friend. I've got a funny feeling you're going to need to be... Absolutely. That's it.

You're going to be right on there, always in tune. 3 a.m. Miguel's going to be popping up. Did they make a move? Did they make a move? I've got to update the number. Oh my gosh. Let me just say the speed with which this man updates the cat number is phenomenal to me. Before

I can even calculate in my head what the Patriots might be thinking, Miguel's got a tweet out there with the Patriots' new cat number. So follow this man. I know all of you, most of you are, if you're not at Pat's cap. I always say the plaque for the alternates doesn't exist. This man is the best of the best. The salary cap top gun,

that plaque for the alternates doesn't exist because he does not have an equal as a man, as a friend, as a human being. I thank you so much for joining me today, my friend. No problem, no problem. Everyone have a great weekend and I promise you folks, promise you folks, Patriots are going to make some moves this week.

Promise you. And on that note, folks, how could the Patriots do anything to deviate from the wishes of our good friend, the Pats cap? On behalf of Miguel Benzon, I am your host Mike DeBate. Once again, thank you for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage.

Folks, keep it tuned in to the Locked On Patriots podcast all over the Locked On Podcast Network, Locked On NFL, all of my colleagues in their individual podcasts. The Locked On Network has you covered, and we will continue to have you covered all throughout free agency. In the meantime, stay safe, stay well, be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great weekend, everyone.