Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots: DeVante Parker, Ja’Whaun Bentley, DeAndre Hopkins and Foxboro Finance

Episode Date: June 30, 2023

The New England Patriots have agreed to contract extensions with receiver DeVante Parker and linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley. What does it mean for their pursuit of free agent DeAndre Hopkins?Host Mike D’Abate welcomes Miguel ‘PatsCap’ Benzan to discuss the financial implications of both Parker’s and Bentley’s contract extensions, while predicting a potential deal for Hopkins.Find and follow Locked On Patriots on your favorite podcast platforms:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-patriots-daily-podcast-on-the-new-england/id1140512627Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1c5ZxFmwg3WbfxAU3tR5Ve?si=k196wH-yRqifUcQQz8SjIQStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-patriotsAnd follow host Mike D’Abate on Twitter, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the New England Patriots and talking with fans.Twitter: @mdabateNFLSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG(CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat(CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Patriots extending Devontae Parker and Juwan Bentley, but what does it all mean financially? Today we got the man with the answers. Stick around. You're about to be locked in to the 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. Thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots the daily part of your New England Patriots coverage

and also your first listen every day. Remember, Locked On Patriots is free and available on all platforms, so subscribe or follow for free wherever you listen to podcasts to get the latest episode as soon as it's available. I am your host, Mike DeBate, and I cover your New England Patriots for Patriots Country of Sports Illustrated. So reach out to me and let me know what's on your mind on Twitter at MDABATENFL. While you're out there showing some love to the Twitterverse,

please be sure to follow the Locked On Patriots account as well at LO underscore Patriots. And Pats fans, I thank you for joining me here today. What a show we've got for you in store. A special shout out, as always, to all of you everydayers out there, all of you locked on loyalists, those of you who make locked on Patriots possible. My unending appreciation to you. I'm honored and humbled by your support. And Pats fans, your favorite team in foxborough they're locking up

some key members of their roster davante parker set to ink a reported three-year 33 million dollar deal while linebacker juwan bentley extending his stay on a two-year deal worth up to 18.75 million but what does it all mean well today on the pod we've got the man with the answers, the pharaoh of Foxborough Finance himself, a great and powerful wizard of Benzond, my good friend, Miguel Benzond. But thank you so much for joining me here today on the pod. Welcome back to Lockdown Patriots. Oh, my God, that's awesome.

That's awesome. And thank you for allowing me to come on so late in the day. I needed to mow my grass. Thank you so much. Absolutely. You've got to get the grass looking optimal. It's the time of year, Fourth of July weekend coming up. I completely understand, my friend.

There is no, no worries. And I know you've got a lot to tell, Patriots Nation. We're all ears. We're all listening. And let's start with the news of the day The Patriots inking linebacker Team captain Juwan Bentley To a two-year extension set to keep him In Foxborough through 2025

We're hearing $9 million guaranteed A total up to $18.75 million But Miguel, you know better than we do And you know as well as we do I should say better than we do That numbers of these types that are thrown around initially don't always indicate what the final deal is going to look like for the patriots both short term and long term i saw you tweet it out earlier on thursday

you like this deal you like this extension love it what was it about this extension that really got you excited and what should patriots fans expect as a result of Juwan Bentley signing a two-year extension here in the World Cup? Why I love the deal. Because it's reported as two years, $18 million, right? But as Mike V says in his report, if you go for three years, it's $18.75 million. So he's going to get in cash. If he earns all of incentives, folks, he's going to earn an average of $6.25 million for one of the best players on your team.

That's a bargain. He's been a captain. One of the guys has won a super bowl on this team so i just loved it i think he was underrated on on in patriot station that's why i love the deal um let's just so like his agent is going to point to say it's two years and 18 million dollars the team's to think about it as three years. I got the guy for three years. On average, it costs $6.25 million.

We've heard other people who've got better resources than I say that the deal saved the cap space this year for the Patriots. I am pretty sure that's going to be true because he had so much little. He's going to convert most of his $2 million salary into a signing bonus. He had $1.5 million in playing time incentives that were categorized likely to be earned. I will be surprised if they're still in the deal for this year. He might have incentives for next year right i would expect him to remove him for this year or to somehow make those incentives not likely to be earned all right for this year he has he earns thirty thousand dollars a game for each game he's active and he since he was active last year for every game last year, his total active roster bonus amount is $510,000, 17 times $30,000.

Okay. My guess, they might raise that amount because they've been standardizing on $1 million, all right, for other players on the team. He had a lower amount. But we'll see. It's a great deal. I don't know the details. This being coming on a Thursday, on a holiday weekend, I will be pleasantly surprised if we hear about the details before the holiday.

But as soon as I as you can trust me, I will be out and show you the breakdown between his old cap number and his new cap number. And for folks, let me just talk about his old cap number. It's $5.05 million. So his cap number is going to be less than that. I know people have put it out there. Okay, folks, I'm going to have to call some people out.

I'm not going to give them names. But, folks, if you're going to go to the Over the Cap website and use their data to say that the Patriots have got $2 million in cap space and savings in that, please know how OCC came up with that number. All right? in that please know how OCC came up with that number all right they basically said hey I'm going to convert all his salary and his incentives into a signing bonus and pro-rated over five years all right his deal is not as far as we know his deal is not for five years all right and he's gonna get more than his nine million dollars guaranteed is most likely to get at least half of that and the signing bonus over the right so you can't get to if you get the he has a minimum salary and let's say he's four and a half million

dollar signing bonus divide that by three that's 1.5 then it goes this can't get to two million dollars savings all right and the people did that with davante paca everybody was saying 3.7 million dollars oh i'm like what when did they come and then i did some i'm like i'm let me just figure out how they came up with that number i figured out manually on my um on my excel workbook and then i went to OTC and that's where they got it. $5.7 million and $100,000 off-season workout bonus for Dave Valente Parker. And they came up with that number. That's just wrong. Unless he took a pay cut, that's the only way you can come up with $3.7 million. But these people who are saying it aren't saying he took a pay cut.

They're just saying they went to the OTC site, doesn't give them credit in the tweet, and says $3.7 million. That's all I got. That's my little rant for the day. I know I usually set the record straight later in my appearance, but it was just right then and there. It came to my head. I want to make sure I got it in. I think it's important, especially knowing the news of the day with Juwan Bentley's extension. And a lot of people are excited about what this may mean for the future. And we're going to get into that. Patriots fans, thank you for tuning into today's episode

so you can enjoy the wisdom and counsel of the great and powerful Wizard of Benz on himself, Miguel the Pats Cat Benz on. But please remember that today's episode is brought to you by our good friends over at FanDuel Sportsbook. Take your first swing at betting MLB on FanDuel and get 10 times your first bet amount in bonus bets up to $200. That's right. Just bet $20 and you'll land $200 in bonus bets, win or lose. That's $200.

You can spend betting everything from the money line to the over under to who you think is going to hit the first home run all on an app that's safe secure and super easy to use plus when you win you can get paid instantly there's no better place to bet on mlb than fan duel america's number one sports book so sign up today go Fanduel.com slash LockedOn to get up to $200 in bonus bets. That's Fanduel.com slash LockedOn. Fanduel, official partner of Nate. We're in tandem hand-in-hand with the news from Wednesday evening, and that was that Devontae Parker, who had been subject to some rumors regarding his future here in New England, some people were thinking he might even be on his way out

because of a $6.2 million non-guaranteed salary if the Patriots were to cut him loose. They extend him now three years, $33 million. We're hearing reports about $14 million guaranteed. Again, these are preliminary numbers. They're not really necessarily indicative of the impact that this is going to have on the Patriots. What was your reaction to Parker's

deal, and what does it mean financially for the fans? Okay, the first thing I took out of it is Ian Rappaport took time to mention the per-game act of roster bonuses. Mike Reese then uses the word heavy. He said heavy roster bonuses mike reese then uses the word heavy he described said heavy roster

bonuses davante paca was earning thirty one thousand two hundred fifty dollars every time he was active for a game he could max out at five hundred thousand dollars he didn't have to be active for all 17 games he only had to be active for 16 games to get to the to get the 500 000 when mike v says heavy that tells me they have increased that amount all right it might be and we're going to talk later about the uh how i think how i would give out a deal to the to hondre arkans if he might have tripled his number or even went into to $100,000 per game or even went to $70,000, at least probably doubled or at least got to the million-dollar number. The other thing I noticed in Ian's report, he said $14 million guaranteed.

Didn't say $14 million fully guaranteed, which he used that word fully for Bentley. Didn't use it for Parker. And folks, what does that mean? The difference between when you not use the word fully. That tells me that there's some injury guarantees in the deal. And if Devante Parker is healthy, right, and he still has an injury guarantee, the Patriots could cut him and be off the hook of the guarantee, which is so team friendly.

And then when you see. That it's three years, $33 million just happens to be around the same number as Jacoby and Juju. And those guys and those guys those guys got incentives it tells and then you hear about mike v saying he had davante parker has an all-pro incentives i i don't know how much he has in incentives in his deal we won't we'll that's something we'll learn all right but i'm pretty sure some of that a good portion of that $33 million is incentives and him being active for every game. And if he hits, let's just say he earns all $33 million, all right,

then he has become a tremendous bargain. Because if you're playing at a level, at an all-pro level, all right, the other guys, they're making $20, $25 million. Justin Jefferson is soon going to make $30. So he's going to be, if he makes all of his incentives, he's going to be a 50% bargain, 50% bargain, honestly. Exactly. And it also tells me, since it's not fully guaranteed, I'm pretty sure it's $14 million fully guaranteed,

which means, hey, it's not really a three-year deal. It's probably a two-year deal, and let's see what happens for the third year. It might even be a deal like, hey, we can cut you roster cut down in 2024 in career cap space or trade you any time in the 2024 season and create cap space we don't know but that's what i'm leaning towards i don't know that for a fact but base i'm just leaning towards that um let's just talk about the elephant in the room did they do these deals to to acquire the andre hopkins nah i think

i've said this many if you folks you're listening to me right now you've told you heard me say this to mike many times right one player's deal typically does not affect another player's deal the pages before these deals had 14.1 million dollars in cap space that's more well mike and i will talk about the what i think they could sign them for but that's more than enough cap space assigned to andre hopkins right to a deal all right it the vante pocket had nothing in my opinion other people have said this and i think had nothing to do with hopkins all right and people say no hopkins and hook all right and and um dalvin cook all right they were saying that uh after the parker extension now they got the bentley extension so it can't be both right gotta get to the argument went away the bent Bentley thing. It is, for me, there's, like I was talking to a couple people,

why they did this now, all right, which is kind of surprising, all right? It's in the early end of June. Most teams have gone on vacation, and you're hardly ever hearing other teams extending players, all right, which cracks me up that some people just automatically go in and criticize the Patriots for extending players when the rest of the NFL aren't doing the same thing. They're just going on vacation.

So there are a couple of reasons why they probably did these deals. A, they want to get the value down. Right? They want to keep those players in the future. And based on these, the total numbers, and if they hit the incentives, if they hit all the incentives, there'll still be bargains. All right? if the hit of all incentives is still be bargains, all right, you have to create cap space to, to operate the rest of the league year since 2020,

which was the year of the latest CBA, which introduced elevating practice squad players. Right. So that, which means this is a whole big thing., like, you know, that was different. That whole practice squad thing made the cost of having a practice squad much more, right? It used to cost $2 million, $2 million to $3 million a year. Now it goes up to $4 million to $5 million a year, all right? Right. so since 2020 there's been three seasons from the start of training camp to the end of the regular season the patrons have averaged using 16.5 million dollars in cap space they don't need to

have the 16.5 million dollars at the start of the training camp because you can create cash space as you go, which the Patriots have done. For example, they traded Stephon Gilmore in the middle of the season. They restructured the guy who got hurt during the season and took out his active roster bonuses. Oh my gosh, I forgot the guy's name. Sorry. Sorry, person.

I hate when I forget the guy's name because family people might listen to it. I had to show him. I'm so sorry. But they can create cap space as they go. They may want to create cap space to extend some of the 2020 draft picks, like Uchi, Duggar, and Michael Luano. And I wanted to bring it up and just say this quickly because I always want to say something

I don't think anybody else is going to say. For example, these guys have such a low cap number, right? And their minimum salary for this year, Mike, is $1.01 million, right? So in order to not create cap, not to increase their cap number with an extension, you would have to sign Michael Iwano to a deal that only has a signing operation of 1.923 million dollars so imagine like hey michael iwano i want to give you a five-year deal i'm only i'm going to give you 9.615 million dollars as a signing bonus he's going to say no all right so all right so you get definitely going to think if you're setting it

one he's gonna you gotta give him a big signing a bigger sign in the final five years then 9.6 for duggar that number is 8.665 million dollars for uchi for uchi excuse me is 1.74 1.75 million 1.75 million dollars all right so if you plan to extend any of those three guys you you'll probably increase their cap number so that's one reason i possibly they've done these deals to create cap space is to sign one or more of these guys all right um and the other thing is they had a lot of um free edges next year yeah so by getting getting it's by getting them done early you say you save yourself money all right because well because you're the only team right now who's negotiating with parker and bentley but if they become free agents in march they you're competing

with 31 other teams for their services all right so you save yourself as long as they played well or didn't get injured during the season, all right? But if they played well, they're probably not. I guarantee you right now, without even knowing the details, if those two guys play well, their 2024 cap down is going to look like such a bargain. I tell you that right now. I am so sure of that.

Okay, so I think I answered that question. I'm sorry. No, I believe you absolutely did. And I'm glad that you mentioned earlier on about Hopkins because we do want to get into him in just a moment. A lot of people wondering what a deal for DeAndre may look like in light of these two contract extensions. So Miguel's got the answers, folks.

Definitely stick around. Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below or if you're listening on whatever podcast platform that you'd like to listen to Locked On Patriots on. the answers folks definitely stick around let us know your thoughts in the comment section below or if you're listening on whatever podcast platform that you'd like to listen to lockdown patriots on drop us a line on twitter we'd love to hear your thoughts but one thing i did want to circle back around with you and you mentioned michael wayne or you mentioned guys like kyle duggar that are up for contract extensions we think this year they're headed for free agency probably headed for big paydays does the do these moves help facilitate a move like this possibly before the season okay yes it's um

oh man it's and I had that wish I had that I wish I thought of this question before because I have a text document of when the pages have extended draft picks in their deal sometimes they have done it i know james white was the earliest one he was done in april sometimes i've done deals so they've done deals in the spring that done deals during the season and they're done deals in february all right um um All right. I'm. Fowl's going to go on record. Let's go on record. All right. Let's go on record. I expect them to sign Uche to extension during it before the end of the regular season. I think they might tag Duggan. I think I want to go someplace else. I think he leaves in free agency.

I think they have drafted so many gods the last couple of years. I think they're preparing for one who's departure. He is one of the more beloved guys on that offensive line. Murph and I talk lowingly about my company each and every week here on Locked On Patriots, but you look at what they've done in bringing in Antonio Mafi, bringing in City So. Guys that are capable of playing that position, you have to wonder if the Patriots are backbuilding.

I think that's an excellent point and maybe a difficult one for Patriots fans to hear, but I think it is something that is warranted in terms of the attention span of everyone listening today. Patriots simply cannot bring everybody back, folks, and sometimes highly sought-after free agents end up finding greener pastures elsewhere. Excellent point, Miguel. You draft for the future.

It's not just for this year. It's also for the future. I think that, like Fred Kersh has said, their actions, Patriots actions tend to speak louder than their words. And what they're telling me, their actions are telling me, maybe they already talked to Awano, and they realize they're not going to be able to, he wants more money than they're willing to pay. Or he wants to become a tackle,

because some tackles get paid higher than guys. All right? Maybe he wants to become a tackle because some some tackles become uh tackles get paid higher than gods all right maybe he wants to become and but they're saying hey i we like you as a guy but maybe michael wants i i don't know this folks but we're just saying i'm just i'm i think they're preparing for life without them all right and um yeah i i i'm gonna go record let's just go on record right here. Uche gets extended before the end of the regular season. Duggar probably gets extended in February. Oh, man.

Yeah, I'll go in February. I'll go in February. Let's go early March. Folks, you heard it here first. Uche, then Duggar, and Michael Wainu. We hardly knew you, but we definitely treasure the time that we had here with you but you know what all of these guys are going to be in foxborough in 2023 folks so you know what let's worry about 2024 when it happens and speaking of 2023 the patriots are hoping that they're not done yet adding to their roster a lot of you out there

are clamoring for a big time wide out and de and DeAndre Hopkins would fit the bill nicely. How can the Patriots make it work financially? Miguel's taking all of the guesswork out of it for you folks in just a moment. The wizard Ben Zahn shares his potential predictable deal for DeAndre Hopkins when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. Patriots fans, thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots podcast continues. Patriots fans, thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your

New England Patriots coverage. Don't forget, we are your team every day. And speaking of your team, we're going to close the week, the month, out in style here on Friday with the resident voice of reason, Steve Balistrieri, as once again, backbatsfans.com. Steve and I are going to talk about what the extensions of Devontae Parker

and Juwan Bentley mean on the field. Does it mean a bigger role for Devontae this year in the offense? Does it mean that Juwan Bentley may be the defensive play caller in that unit? We're going to talk all that and more what these moves mean on the field tomorrow here on Locked on Patriots. So be sure to stay locked in. But today, you are locked in. You are riveted by the very words of the great and powerful Wizard of Benz on the Pharaoh of Foxborough Finance.

Yeah, I'm loving that one. I think really we're going to trademark that. I love that one. My good friend, Miguel Benz on one of the best guys in the business, one of the best guys on the planet. I will absolutely stand by that every day of the week and twice on Sunday. But thank you so much already for enlightening us on the contract extensions of Devontae Parker, of Juwan Bentley, what it means for the Patriots. But let's face it, folks.

Everyone out there is wondering, can the Patriots still make this work with deandre hopkins bringing back devontae parker made some people a little bit nervous that maybe the patriots were moving on you can make that argument maybe on the field they're two very similar type receivers deandre probably getting a little bit of the nod based on his resume and based on his prowess but financially miguel you told us in the last segment that this is not really a move that's going to preclude the patriots from going after deandre hopkins you've figured out and predicted a deal for deandre floor is yours my friend take

us home today let us know what we can expect from a potential deal here between hopkins and the bats all right so i'm best facing let's just think about it that the patriots have competition for for for hopkins right and that he wants to at least match what ob obj got obj got one year million. All right. I propose a deal that averages out $15 million over three years. I don't expect them to play all three years. All right. But I structured a deal that I say team friendly, but also player friendly in a way. All right.

So Mike, if you could bring up the deal i will okay okay folks sometimes you got to do with the old-fashioned way folks here we go there we are okay so folks what i propose to do is like is to give him an 11.7 million dollars signing bonus that could be provided 3.9 million dollars a year and also guarantee his salary for this year 1.3 million dollars all right 11.7 plus 1.3 equals 13 million dollars all right he can get to $15 million by being active in my scenario for 16 games. You see there and I have the active roster bonus, $900,000. All right. That's because he was active for nine games in 2022. So I'm proposing kind of a building off what the Patriots did with Darrell Revis and Devontae Parker's old deal in which the player earned a total amount in just 16 games and not in 17 games. So what I propose for Hopkins, $100,000 for each game, the first 10 games that he's active.

So that's $1 million that he earns in the first 10 games. The next four games, he earns $125,000 to him. The last two games, 15 and 16, $250,000. So he gets $2 million if he's active for every game. OBJ could earn up to three million dollars in incentives i topped that by saying going four million dollars in incentives all right and i would tie the incentives to you know not only the receptions receiving yards touchdowns i would put down wins and Super Bowl appearance.

And with the Super Bowl appearance, he would have to play in the game X amount of snaps. All right? So if he plays well, folks, he earns $19 million. All right? I don't think if he plays well,

anybody's going to complain that he earned the 19 million dollars in one year all right and then his cap number next year is gonna be high and that's gonna be high in 2025 but can think that's what that's my proposal like for example even like the last year of his deal is all gets a ton of cap space created by god even next year if you're to cut them you have some dead money just 7.8 million dollars but you have cap savings before the rule of 51 of 10.6 million dollars all right and the cap savings goes up if you cut them after june one of next year all right do would deandre hopkins sign this deal i don't know i do know that he hasn't signed the deal

with anyone else i do think this deal gives him at least the bragging rights of at least the eager match to say he can match obj and if he does incentives he gets more money than obj i allows them to say that and his cap numbers for this year folks it's just $6.1 million. It would go up to $7.2 million if he's active for 16 games. So the Patriots would have to have a cushion for that $1.1 million. All right? Is it doable going forward? Yeah, I think it's go i i think it's doable and then and for example because the patrons have yet to and if you could take um have yet to really borrow money from the future all right so they could for example they could go to um our favorite gm wannabe matthew juneau

and ask him to convert most of his salary into a signing bonus. All right? They could do that and create cap space. They could extend Hunter Henry and create a ton of cap space. So they have still ways of creating cap space. And let's not forget, at Ross' cut down, the players who are not in the top 51 list or have a low salary, if they beat out a player with a higher salary,

that creates cap space for the Patriots. So we want, for example, you want, oh, man, let's pay Justice Devai. If he beats out Lawrence Guy for cap space for the roster, that creates over $2 million in cap space. So I think it's i think it's doable um i don't know we i don't know how to handle these hoppings personally so i don't know what this is what he's looking for i do think this deal is doable i think

it's it'd be difficult for a team like, for example, who have very little cap space, like the Kansas City Chiefs, unless Chris Jones extends his deal, all right? The Kansas City Chiefs can't match this deal. All right. Okay. So if I were the Patriots, I would offer this deal right okay so if i were the patriots i've been offering this i would offer this deal right away make an offer i can't refuse that didn't happen all right i love it

we'll see um and i should say like i guess someone had mentioned i talked about how much little the Patriots have committed to the future. I wish they had also said, had provided more context to those numbers. It is true the Patriots have very little cap spending cash commitment for the future. But it's also true they have very few veterans signed for the future. It is also true that their starting quarterback is on a rookie deal. And he's not eligible for the fifth-year option. All right? Once Matt Jones is off his rookie deal, all right,

the Patriots' cash spending for the future cash spending is going to go up if he plays well. All right. Because you're going to pick up at least a fifth year option. Right. And then you may have to pick up. We might have to tag him the following year. You know, but it is what it is when it comes to reporting on this on the Patriots. I'm like, holy cow. Like, I was, I shouldn't be surprised about how negative some people are on, like, anything. They don't even know, we don't know the numbers yet.

We don't know the numbers on Parker's deal, the exact numbers on Parker's deals, on Bentley deals, but it's a bad, but the Patriots should have done them. Okay. Because it precluded, you know, like, literally, if you have $ million dollars in cap space and you and you make a move to create cap space how does it preclude you from signing a player like hopkins i don't i don't understand that at all i don't either uh i actually i was very much

in support of both deals when i heard them i was was happy to hear that Parker was getting extended on Wednesday. I was even happier to hear that Bentley was being extended on Thursday. These are two players I thought very highly of by the Patriots brass. And it's obvious in this scenario, in both scenarios, that they're a part of their immediate plans and their future plans as well. And something Gail talked about earlier, and I tweeted this out earlier today, they had the space to be able to sign DHOP earlier on. They did not need either of these deals to be able to facilitate that.

Miguel has laid it out, I think, perfectly here with the DeAndre Hopkins deal, folks. So if you're watching on YouTube, definitely get an eyeful. If for any reason you're not watching on YouTube, folks, and you are listening to this, we will be attaching this document to the tweet that goes out via LO underscore Patriots. Keep a sharp eye on that.

If you're wondering what the numbers look like, just go here, or you can go to Pat's Cap on Twitter, and Miguel will share all the details with you. But, Miguel, this is excellent. You've got a great, great base here. And, folks, if you're wondering whether or not DeAndre Hopkins can still be a New England Patriot, Miguel has laid it out financially. He absolutely can be. Don't forget, tomorrow here on Locked on Patriots, Steve Balistrieri and I are going to tell you why,

logistically, on the field, from a Patriots player perspective, these two guys can fit and coexist on the field at the same time. Great stuff. You will not want to miss it. But, Miguel, it wouldn't be a trip here to Lockdown Patriots if I did not give you the opportunity before I let you go today, my friend, to set the record straight. It's a segment unique to Lockdown Patriots.

We love it. We're honored that you choose us as the vehicle by which you can do it. The floor is yours, my friend. Please let us know any of those erroneous cat myths that are floating around out there set the record straight my friend okay i already talked about how people said the 3.7 million dollar thing right the savings for paca and by using the otc number all right that's one two i talked about um the future cap spending i'm not saying it's wrong i just wish they had added contacts like saying that they should talk about how many how few veterans the patriots have when if you don't

have and like if you don't know about mac jones if you don't know you're starting quarterback you don't want to be tied up with a veteran deal you want to be able to pivot right you want to be able to pivot you want to be able to have a capability of acquiring a veteran quarterback all right so i think it's a good thing that i don't have that much that much future cast commitment because if once and let's say mac jones is the real deal those numbers look much different'll look much different in the future. All right. And you'll have ability to build around them with younger players, older than the other and older players. Yeah. Okay.

All right. And, oh, my gosh. Can someone, some, I hate calling out people, but someone please tell the athletics Jack Graff that Malik Cunningham did not receive the most guaranteed money of any of the Patriots. That was Jeff Demps. I know it was a little before he started covering the Patriots,

but it was Jeff Demps. I don't think it's a big deal that Malik Cunningham got $200,000 guaranteed. It doesn't matter. Because, A, it's not even close to all the money he would make as a practice squad player. And the pictures of him, there's never been a correlation to how much guaranteed a UFDFA makes in guaranteed money than him making the roster.

It's such a small amount, $170,000. You can't possibly tell me that $170,000 is going to guarantee you a roster spot. When you have other guys in your roster projection that you're cutting, that has much more. Definitely. Okay? You said that several times here on these airwaves. The last two years running, I know it's been a part of this time of year

when you set the record straight. That's usually one of your points. I was waiting for that, and I'm glad that you made the point. Mike, if you're doing a 53-man roster projector and you're cutting guys who have more dead money than $170,000, if the Patriots don't waive Malik Khan, I mean, if of goes unclaimed on waivers it's done money for this year excuse me 180 000 10 000 will be signing for inspiration

all right if your 15 30 million roster is cutting veterans with more than that i don't see how you could be consistent and then say you've got to keep malik cunningham because his money's so high he's got so much guaranteed money it folks it does not matter unless the guy you're guaranteeing him like 400 000 half a million dollars or like a rookie salary it does not really matter for the pay pits they care how you play in the preseason in in the training game, how you perform. All right? And that's my rant because I'm a subscriber to The Athletic. I love that. I love that. Yeah, absolutely.

Okay. I see it twice. The first time I wasn't on rant, I didn't want to call. First time I didn't call people out. The second time I had to call people out. But, you know, bottom line, my friend, I mean, that's what we bring you on here for. And that's why you are, in my opinion, one of the best Twitter followers, not just in the region, but anywhere in the Twitterverse. Not only do you do it with entertaining and a class style all your own, but you do it with an accuracy and a attention to detail that you just simply don't

find a lot of places on Twitter any longer. You are the salary, the salary Pat's cap top gun. I always say that the plot for the alternates does not exist because you have no equal as far as I'm concerned. You're a great man. And you've proved it again here today, not just setting the record straight, but also giving us new light, a new way to look at the extensions of both Devante Parker and Juwan Bentley. And of course,

laying out exactly what the Patriots should do to bring DeAndre Hopkins in. Anyone telling you that the Patriots can't do it, go back to this show, take a look at what Miguel just laid out, and you'll see it's not only very possible, they can definitely do it the only question is will they do it and the jury is still out on that well i think i mike i'll say this we know they made him an offer they just didn't make an offer he couldn't refuse that's right they did not i'm hoping that he considers my offer and i know I want to lead you into a God River reference. The best young interest don't conflict with mine. On the day of your daughter's wedding, Miguel. Oh, my gosh.

All kidding aside, folks, really, I mean, we would love for Bill Belichick to make a Godfather-esque offer to DeAndre Hopkins and get him here in new england but you know what bottom line whether d hops here or not the patriots are still putting together i think a team that is going to maybe surprise some people but it's definitely going to be an improvement from what we've seen on the field in 2022 and financially the patriots seem to be hitting the right button so far they've got the blessing from the pharaoh of Foxborough Finance, and I'm going to ride that for everything it's worth. But what can I say? You come here, you lend your wisdom and counsel, and I truly mean this, folks, the way only he can. There is no other source

that I rely on when it comes to salary cap information. When I'm working on a story or I'm trying to get an article out, he is the only call that I make and he's the only one that I need to make. And anytime I've ever asked him to come and help lend his wisdom and counsel here on Locked On Patriots, buddy, you're always there. You are truly a remarkable man. The charity work that he does for Hartford Habitat for Humanity is truly awe-inspiring. I'm honored to be your friend. And please, before I let you go today, the floor is yours to go ahead and to let our listeners know

the great work that you do for that organization and anything else that you think we should be aware of that you're working on right now that could be interesting between now and training camp, my friend. All right. Well, Patience, you can see on Twitter, I'm at PathCat. My pinned tweet is how you can donate to my

chosen charity. I believe in the American dream, so I'm trying to help someone get into a home. All right? That's all I got to say about that. I believe in paying it forward. God has blessed me and my family, so I'm trying to pay it forward.

As for what's to come, next couple days, we'll'm trying to pay it forward. As what's to come next couple days, we'll learn the details of these extensions. Hopefully, one of these days before shy Mike Sullivan loses his mind, the pages will sign Christian Gonzalez and Keenan

White. All right. It's coming, shy. What? it's coming up huh yeah i love shy i love shy we love him he's great i know but he's he's such a worry word for no reason don't have to worry about these i get i will he's passionate i will also go on the record right now and still say the Patriots will sign those two players before trading games odds. I am 100% confident in that. I do recommend reading a piece I will retweet in the future later tonight from Howard Balzer about why the second round draft picks haven't been signed. It talks about the guaranteed money.

Folks, it's kind of silly why Keon White hasn't been signed. They're not arguing about how much guaranteed salary. They're talking about 2023. They're not arguing because it's going to be 100% guaranteed. They're not arguing about how much guaranteed salaries they'll get in 2024. It's going to be 100% guaranteed. They're actually arguing about how much guaranteed salaries they'll get in 2024. It's going to be 100% guaranteed. They're actually arguing about how much guaranteed salaries they'll get in 2025. All right?

That's what the holdup is. And because there's other players around where he was drafted who haven't signed, the Patriots can't agree on a number. Those two sides can't agree on a number. Once the other people sign, it's going to probably split the difference and boom, we'll be done. What else? And they got two open spots. One of them, hopefully,

is for DHOP. We don't have time to talk about... I wish I talked too long, but I really... Let's talk about Dalvin Cook. I'll try to do this in a minute. Folks, why I don't think the Pacers are going talk about Dalvin Cook. I'll try to do this in a minute. Folks, why I don't think the Patriots are going to sign Dalvin Cook. He's going to be – on this team, he'd be RB2.

I think Stevenson's the better running back. If you pay – whatever you pay Dalvin Cook, all right, this year, Stevenson's going to look to better that as the RB when he gets – when he tries to get extended after this year. If you pay Cook $6 million this year, that's the floor for any

Stevenson deal next year. Think about that when we keep on people saying, what about Cook? The best way to get Stevenson cheap on a long-term deal is not to sign an expensive veteran right now.

Okay? That's all I got. I'm going to end. I know we want to have a time limit. That's my ending. Sorry. No, I'm glad that you brought up Dalvin because I think a lot of people are looking at him under the surface. A lot of people are saying, hey, you know what? There's a possibility.

Miami looks to be a pretty good fit there. Murph and I talked about it on Monday logistically. And he's an RB1 for them exactly. And not only that, but he's also going to a place that he's very familiar with in his hometown. So you're looking at this now with Dalvin. It's looking likely that South Beach could be the destination. But folks, keep it right here on Locked On Patriots for all the very latest.

And if the Patriots do ink DeAndre Hopkins or Delvin Cook, or dare I say folks, both, you can bet Miguel's going to be back here to lend his financial wisdom and counsel to tell us how the Pats are going to make it all work throughout the 2023 season. Even if they don't, we're still going to have them back anyway, because we have to know how they're going to operate. So in that vein, folks, thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. Tomorrow, the voice of reason joins us here on Locked On Patriots. Steve Balistrieri to talk Devante Parker, talk Juwan Bentley on the field. But we thank our good friend Miguel for enlightening us on everything Foxborough Finance.

Until tomorrow, Foxborough faithful, I am Mike DeBate. Once again, stay safe and stay well. Be the change that you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone, and we'll see you again here tomorrow on Locked on Patriots.