Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots: NFL Draft Finance, Kyle Dugger Contract, Pats Salary Cap and Free Agency

Episode Date: April 13, 2024

With the 2024 NFL Draft set to begin in less than two weeks, the New England Patriots are expected to make a splash with their No. 3 overall pick. However, how are they situated when it comes to the salary cap? Joining host Mike D’Abate is Patriots salary cap expert Miguel ‘PatsCap’ Benzan to discuss the terms of Kyle Dugger’s contract, the Pats ability to finance their 2024 Draft class and Miguel answers listeners salary cap questions. #nfl #nfldraft #patriots Find and follow Locked On Patriots on your favorite podcast platforms: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1c5ZxFm... Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-... And follow host Mike D’Abate on X, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the New England Patriots and talking with fans — @mdabateNFL Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotos.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. BetterHelpThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Make your brain your friend, with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDON today to get 10% off your first month. GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning GUARENTEED That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – win or lose! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started. 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)

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, and thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage and also hopefully your first listen each and every day. Remember, Locked On Patriots is not only a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day, but we're also free and available on all platforms.

So make sure to smash that YouTube subscribe button and download and follow wherever you get your podcasts to ensure that you're getting the latest episode as soon as it's available. I'm your host, Mike debate. I cover your new England Patriots for Patriots country of sports illustrated. Reach out to me. Let me know what's on your mind on exit. MDA BAT NFL while you're out there showing some love to lockdown Patriots, social media style,

please be sure to follow our account there as well at L-O underscore Patriots. And Pats fans, today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Make every moment more. Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets guaranteed.

That's $150 win or lose. Visit FanDuel.com slash LockedOn to get started. Pat's Fan Safety Kyle Duggar has a snazzy new four-year contract. And here today to break it all down

is a man that I truly feel that I'm doing so with the equivalent of his position to what Mozart was to music. That's right, folks. The salary cap maestro is here. We're going to saddle you with another nickname, my friend, because I like maestro Miguel. I think that sounds pretty good. Folks, he needs no introduction. I continue to give it to him anyway, because he is that good. And he is here today to answer all of your questions and solve all of your problems when it comes to all things Patriots salary cap.

He is my good friend. Now, Pat's cap himself, the salary cap top gun, the wizard of Benz on Miguel Benz on. Thank you so much for joining me here today, buddy. Welcome back to Lockdown Patriots. Oh, my gosh. I'm going to my mother and I are going to go chair on runners on Monday. I am going to tell her your new nickname while I was chairing on the runners. I just want to see what she says.

Well, it's true. The way you orchestrate the Patriots salary cap numbers is truly a thing of beauty, and we're honored to have you here today with us here on Locked On Patriots to break it all down. Miguel, as I always say, anytime I have a salary cap question, anytime there's a cap conundrum in Patriots Nation, those that are in the know and my colleagues that are savvy enough to know the difference, and there are several, always go to this man. You know why? Because we really don't need another source. He's always right, and he's always available. And you can't ask for more than that in our profession.

Miguel, the Patriots currently, according to your calculations, my friend, the possessors of an availability worth $53,110,975. Not too shabby heading into the NFL draft. And Miguel, we're going to talk about the cap space that the Patriots may need for the draft, as well as the moves they've made, how they arrived at this number, and what we can expect moving forward into the future. Miguel's even going to dip into his own mailbag here today on Locked On Patriots and answer a few user questions.

That's right, folks. We're basically opening our world to Miguel here today. Bottom line, folks, it's going to be a fun show. Stick around. You're not going to want to miss a second of it. But Miguel, obviously, we're going to start today with the contract extension of Kyle Duggar. That's a great point, Mike. It first got reported it was up to $66 million. Ben Volan, who's the first person to report the details, just 58. i i hope he doesn't mind sharing telling you i dm'd him i said there's two million dollars and not likely to be earning sensors in this deal and he says there's no mention of it in the in the summary it's going

to take a while for that contract a copy of that contract to be posted into the database so then Ben can see it. And then hopefully he'll be able to hopefully share the details with me. All right. So it was reported 58. It might be 66. We don't know. I tell you this. When I first heard of

the report and it said base value of 58 and up to 66 with the Patriots always having active roster bonuses I wasn't sure they would count the active roster bonuses in the base or not I literally thought it was 58 million dollars signing bonus and salary one million dollars a year in active roster bonus and one million dollars a year in incentives. Now, for that 66 number to be correct, it has to be $2 million in incentives each year. We'll find out.

But right now, we're just going to use the base value of $58 million. Right, absolutely. And I'm glad that you mentioned, Ben. Ben reported, and I saw that you retweeted on Thursday morning, $29.75 million in fully guaranteed money Ben reported, and I saw that you retweeted on Thursday morning, $29.75 million in fully guaranteed money plus a conditional $2.75 million guarantee in its third season. Duggar essentially receiving $32.5 million in guaranteed money with this contract. Miguel, kind of walk us through what the Patriots process was because you nearly nailed this right on the money. The 14.5 APY, the annual per year.

You were off very little, but I consider that close enough to be right on the money. So as far as I'm concerned, you nailed it. I got closer than anyone else who predicted contracts. Absolutely. That's why I was the highest. I had the highest API. I had it at 14, came in 14 and a half, which makes, at the end of the day, it makes sense because usually when you sign a tag player,

the API is usually higher than the day in what the tag number was. The last couple of cornerbacks have recently gotten a little less or just right around that tag number, but the cornerback market has been lackluster the last several years. Cal Duggar's number is right around what

Delbert. An extension in December. At that time, we all thought that the cap was going to be around $242 million, around that number. Cap ended up being around $255 million.

The difference between $12 million and $14.5 million is part of that is the increase in the cap, part of that is the fact that the player got tagged, and the fact that he signed a four-year deal. Whereas, I suppose, with the Browns, they like to push out the money. They got option bonuses.

The Patriots typically have not used a void year this year at all. So I wasn't surprised that it was a four-year pretty much no fluff um that's how they did it they did like i said before before the deal came once once the deal was reported i said it would have active roster bonuses that happened i said they would have workout bonus that happened but i was surprised mike telling the truth i thought we had an active off-season workout bonus our opponents for this year. All right? But I was wrong for a little bit.

But I'm going to – I wonder if the rules – since he signed it on Tuesday and the off-season program started up on Monday, if he couldn't have done it. So I got to find – that's kind of like a CBA, really nerdy kind of thing. So I got to think that has to be it. That's my guess. And he has the first two years of his salary,

the first two years salaries are fully guaranteed and he gets his signing bonus, which is what you would expect in a multi-year deal if you're not a quarterback. So basically, your first two years are guaranteed, and after that, you're basically going to win. You're on an option year each year after that. As for the guaranteed money in the third year, the way Ben reported it,

it's not going to be guaranteed until we don't know when It's better for Duggar if it gets Guaranteed in 2025 Rather than getting guaranteed Sometime in 2026 because the Patriots Could just cut him before that guarantee comes It's better but we don't know that yet

Okay you can see Here folks when I'm talking About the dead money in the for the that guarantee comes from it's better but i don't we don't know that yet okay you can see here folks when i'm talking about the dead money in the for the 2026 row i say nine million dollars and that's just two years of his 4.5 million dollar signing boneration but once that guaranteed salary that guaranteed salary that would increase all right as you can see here in the cap savings table what anything has read means that if you cut them or cut them it's going to be a negative amount of course you just signed the guy to uh you just gave that 18 million dollars so there's no way you can't cut them this year all right um it's gonna be expensive to cut him next year all right um because you're

gonna lose 3.25 million dollars in cap space. All right. So it's not going to have the 18. You know, his cap number is actually next year's fifteen point five million dollars. And if you cut him, cut him is going to be his dead body to be eighteen point seven five million dollars. OK. Actually, that should be more. My formula is wrong. That should be more because it should be 13.5. It should be like over $22 million, the dead money. That row is wrong. Oh, my gosh.

Sorry about that, Mike. It's okay. Whatever. So that makes the dead money even bigger. All right. So he got a good deal in terms of getting this cash up front 21 million dollars this year and 11 million dollars next year so if you were to get tagged next year he would have had around 16 million dollars so he got more money in the first two years than playing on

the tag all right this the transition tag um his API, as you can see here, the rankings and his API is the sixth highest right now. He's got total guarantee is the fifth most. Full guarantee is the fourth most. Only Xavier McKenna is going to get more cash at the safety position than Kyle Duggar this year. And because they lowered his cap number to $7.5 million, he's got the 14th highest cap number for safety this year. All right?

Mike, so I don't know how to say this. I thought this was a right on, fair deal. I was expecting a number in the $14 million range, so I thought it was a fair deal. I was expecting a number in the $14 million range, so I thought it was a fair deal. I was surprised it went four years, but in a sense, it doesn't really matter

because if he's not playing well in 2026 or 2027, he's going to get cut because you can save cap. You can save cap space by doing so. It's, I liked the deal. But I'm biased because I thought he was going to get $14 million.

I don't like, I don't, you know what? The funny thing is some people are saying it's an overpay. And it's a lot of money. But some people, if you say, I wish what they would say, like, what number did you expect them to sign for? And are you doing this based on what is the market? Like, you know, it's like Delbert from Brown saw $12 million.

Xavier McKinney signed for more money. So you could say there's a couple of comps there. Using those for comps, the Cal Duggar, that 14.5 is reasonable. It's in there. If you want to say, I'm not going to... If you want to argue, well, the safety market this year is bad,

and they probably could have got them for cheaper, I'm not going to argue with that. I'm just going to say there's comps out there and there's value in signing one of your own because if he if he left you would have to replace him with someone absolutely and that's you know so you create the hole at the position and then you're going to fill it with someone who's outside the team right if you want to build a culture if you want to say you would draft and develop this deal had to be done for you know to back up those words with an action

right bottom line folks when you look at kyle duggar's deal and miguel steve balistrieri and i talked a little bit about kyle's value on the field yesterday here on Locked On Patriots, and people that are saying that this could be an overpay, I always go back to the statistics to back it up. 62 total games for the Patriots since joining them in 2020. He started 53 of them, 343 total tackles, nine interceptions, two fumble recoveries. He scored three defensive touchdowns, two of them coming on interceptions, one coming on a fumble recovery.

And also when you look at the versatility that he brings to the table, he can play in the big nickel with the five defensive back packages. He can play in the dime, which is a six defensive back package, folks. These are all items that work toward his resume that was the reason why the patriots were aggressive in the words of elliot wolf to re-sign kyle duggar then you take a look at what he brings to the field in terms of leadership and in terms of traffic directing you heard devin mccordy talk about him earlier this week and kyle was able to get that playbook from the minute he walked in to the locker room in New England.

So anybody wondering why he got this contract, folks, take a look at what he does on the field and what he brings to that locker room. It's not a surprise. And as I said yesterday, if you're going to overpay for someone, you overpay a little bit for the talent that you know, the talent that you know can handle playing in New England. That to me is ultimately why Kyle Duggar was the recipient of this contract. So yeah, I think that I agree with you and I would definitely say this is a good deal for both sides.

Patriots get a cornerstone at the safety position for, like you said, at least two years. It doesn't look like he's going anywhere in that third year. If he starts to decline a little bit, Patriots cap space there and the cap numbers that you saw folks and miguel's great work in his spreadsheet will tell you that it makes it a little more palatable to part ways with him in year three on that so the patriots do have a slight out here and i think that's what makes this a great deal for them too yeah so folks i realized I made. My mistake was with the dead money. When I first started doing these projections, I had Cal Duggar with the third three years signing a three year deal. So I forgot to add the fourth row to the dead money. Dead money for this year is immaterial because he's not getting cut or traded this year.

So it's correct. Dead money for this year for this this year, for 2025 is 23.25 million dollars. So if they were to cut them, they would lose seven point seven five million dollars in cap space. I'm sorry about that, folks. I make mistakes. I didn't I checked all my math except the dead that call. Because I wanted to. Okay, all right. That's funny. So the one thing I've been hearing since Kyle Duggar got extended is that the Patriots brought back the same team. You know what I'm saying?

But they actually haven't. They have lost at practically every position a player or two. At quarterback, Mac Jones. Offensive tackle, Trent Brown. And I put a question mark, Riley Reif, that he could come back, but I doubt it. All right? You can see I list practically every position on the field. I get, the Patriots have lost a player, either through retirement, cut, or the player signed someplace else. So that argument that the Patriots are bringing back a 4-13 team, brought back everybody from a 4-13 team, is incorrect just by looking at the players who departed.

All right? everybody from a 4-13 team is incorrect just by looking at the players who departed all right if we look at um mike if we bring up the 2023 list ir list this is when the players got placed on ir and this is you know they live in what you're saying when you say they're bringing back the same team you're practically projecting that marcus jones daniel all these players who got placed on the i.i during the season also going to get a place on the during on during i.i during the 2024 season and i was like these players weren't available all right for the at 23 so not the it's not the same team, all right? And that argument says that the players who were on the team last year, who are still on the team, they're going to play at the same level as they did last year, which is hard to believe. Like, let's pick Keon White.

He's going to be in the second year. He should get better. On the other side of that, the older players, they might be experiencing a decline in their abilities. That argument, hey, they brought everybody back from a 4-13 team.

It isn't correct. They had experienced a lot of players, played a lot of players in IR. The players on the team, they either get better or they get worse. And some of the players were at the top of the game. Hopefully they stay the same. All right. I wanted to get that off my chest because I find that argument lazy

because you can hear it from each and every football team we start off zero and zero each year each year is different and to say that hey they bought the pages brought back every player from four and thirteen teams i just find that less uh i don't know that that's I don't know, I don't know the right words to say it. I think what happened in a lot of regard with this argument, Miguel, is I think a lot of fans are taking a look at what the Patriots have done. And they're saying, okay, well, you're locking up a lot of internal talent. A lot of guys that were on this team last year, guys that Gerard Mayo and Elliott Wolfe have referred to as core guys, Hunter Henry, Kendrick Bourne, Anthony Jennings, Josh Uche, just to name a few, Michael Wainu, Kyle Duggar that we just talked about.

They're getting these guys back in the building. Fans are looking at that 4-13 record and saying, okay, you're just going to run it back with the same guys you had last year. Certainly not the case, folks. As Miguel has pointed out here, there are several departures on this team. This team will look drastically different when they're on the field. And the Patriots did a good job, I think, of keeping the guys in the locker room that are not only productive on the field, but also great locker room guys and great guys for morale.

There's a reason why those players were strategically targeted by Mayo, Wolf, and the Patriots brain trust. You're building a new foundation. You need the right guys to do it and the Patriots retain them. So excellent argument, Miguel, and you've definitely broken it down for, I think, a lot of us to see what the differences will be from the 2023 team into the product that we're going to see on the field in 2024. And one last table I'd like to bring up is the FA table. Okay, so I just wanted to talk about how the Patriots did in spending, in free agent spending this year. All right?

And I'll have to say this. The Buccaneers, the Jaguars, and the Bengals are in italics because they have signed some players. The Buccaneers have a franchise side by Anton Winfield. The Bengals have T. Higgins. And I'm waiting on the numbers for the Josh Allen of the Jaguars, not the Josh Allen of the Bills. All right? the for the um josh allen of the jaguars not the josh allen of the bills all right um so you can see the page is tied for eighth in terms of the free agent signed all right they the total amount of the deals was six okay um they told guarantees the eighth full guarantees their fifth and of course i run out of room and i don't have the rank for first-year cash.

I'll have to tell you that. First-year cash is also fifth. All right. They just fall just a little short of someone. So they're in the top 10 of all these categories. They, one of my good friend, Troy,

for who covers the Texan caps wants the Texas to sign another free agent. So they can at least be tied for number one. Right. I think in terms of. What they did in free agency, they were one of the more active teams in free agency, and they spent a great deal in free agency, especially as opposed to the rest of the league, which benefits the player as the guarantee amount. Okay? All right.

I just want to point that out for folks. Bottom line, no matter what the moves that are made, Miguel is right on top of them. And again, my friend, you are absolutely nailing it from start to finish. Folks, we're just scratching the surface here on Locked On Patriots because not only is Miguel going to set the record straight with all of those various catnips out there, he's also going to open up Miguel's mailbag here on Locked On Patriots.

That's right. We've put his name and embroidered his name on the mailbag this week. So stick around and stay locked into the Locked On Patriots podcast when we continue right here on the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Locked On listeners, passion, drive, and patience is what brings home that winning trophy you know what it's also what keeps your ride or die alive our good friends over at ebay motors have everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to peak performance from superchargers to roof racks to exhaust kits, LED headlights, and so much more.

Whether you're into speed, power, or style, eBay Motors has got you covered. With over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die, you'll always find exactly what you're looking for. And with eBay Guaranteed Fit, your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or your money back. Because with eBay Motors, you're burning rubber and not cash. With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it's easy to turn your car into the MVP and bring home that win. Keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay guaranteed fit only available to U.S. customers.

Pats fans, thank you once again for joining us here today on Locked On Patriots and joining us and lending the wisdom and counsel that only he can. I say that a lot here, folks, but this time I truly mean it. Only this man can deliver this type of wisdom and counsel. My good

friend, the Pats cap himself, Miguel Benzon. Miguel, we've been having a blast talking about Kyle Duggar's new contract, talking about Patriots free agency, their rankings, the differences between the 2023 team and the 2024 team that we are about to see take the field for practices, mini camps, training camp, preseason, and then into the regular season. It's hard to believe the football's almost back on the gridiron, folks, but it is close. And Miguel, before we set the record straight here on Locked on Patriots, in a segment that is unique to this pod, and it's going to get even more unique in just a moment, folks, the 2024 NFL Draft is two weeks away from tonight when we're recording this

yeah on Thursday so two weeks from today right around this time folks we're probably going to be very close to learning what the Patriots intentions are when it comes to the number three pick Miguel everybody right now in a frenzy over who the Patriots are going to pick is it going to be Drake May is it going to be Jaden Daniels is it going to be J.J. McCarthy are they going to trade the pick forccarthy are they going to trade the pick for joe all are they going to trade the pick for t higgins or brandon iu we hear all of these different scenarios that are out there but you and i both know that your decision making and i say your folks meaning the patriots brass is only as good as the finances to back you up when it comes

to the new england patriots obviously there's a wealth of cap space. They're not going to be worried about using that cap space to pay their draft class. But if you could give our listeners a refresher as to what the salary cap impact will be for the upcoming 2024 draft class. Okay, this is me having some fun, all right? I had picked, these are the slots, and I actually missed a slot.

I missed a slot, but the numbers don't really matter. So let me just talk about this. Every rookie is going to get a salary of $795,000, all right? If you were drafted in the first round, your salary is going to be guaranteed not by the rule but by practice if you're drafted in the second round the first two years of your salary will be fully guaranteed not by once again not by rule but by practice all right everyone else their salaries are not guaranteed so the only guaranteed money for the players drafted in the third, fourth, sixth, sixth, and seventh round is their signing bonus. All right?

So for those guys, all right, right now, for everyone, all parts of their signing bonus preparation will hit the cap. All right? But if you are not, have a cap number that's going to put you in the top 51 all right by top 51 i mean the 51 players with the with the highest cap numbers all right so as we all know the pages in every team in the nfl can sign up to 90 players during the offseason the 30 51 salaries count against the cap. The bottom 39 do not. All right?

Okay? That allows teams to sign 90 players. If you had counted 90 salaries, then teams wouldn't be able to make as many moves. All right? Why 51 as opposed to 53, I have no idea. Okay? It's a rule. It's been there forever.

It's one of those things I think I wish the NFL would go back and make some changes to the CBA and I would get rid of the top 51 and make it top 53. That's my preference. All right. You'll see that

in the column it says top 51 offset. The person drafted like 229. He's going to have a cap number of $825,733. But his salary won't come against the cap. So the net impact of his signing this deal on the cap is just $30,000, $30,733, all right? Of course, if he makes the team, all right, it's most likely he's going to beat out a player with a higher salary than he has, therefore creating cap space for the Patriots, all right?

Okay. So as you can see here, Mike, that the – let's say they do draft a quarterback with the third overall spot. That player will get the most cash this year of any player on the Patriots. He'll get close to $27.9 million dollars which is it's odd and since we are structuring the whole cba since 2011 says like let's take some money out of the rookies let's give it to the veterans but in this case because of the patrons don't have i'm not didn't really go pay anyone a lot of a ton of money in like like 30 40 50 million dollar signing bonus in free agency they're a rookie is gonna

make the most cash this year which is just wild for me all right um as you could see then then he's that quarterback and i um i don't want to okay he okay, he's going to have, his cap number is going to be $7.56 million, but he's going to bump off a player who's going to have a salary of $985,000. So his net impact on the cap is $6.6 million. All right. It is going to be mike like they could sign the guys drafted in the fourth fifth sixth seventh round the day after the draft all right because there's no no negotiations going on there all right the third wrong person they're gonna probably try to they're trying to, the agent is going to try to do,

get some guaranteed money and have some salaries guaranteed. They lost that battle last year. All right? But maybe they'll try to do it this year again. All right? Other than – because in the second round pick, their only thing they're going to negotiate is how much salary in the third year in the 2026 season is guaranteed. That's what they're negotiating.

These numbers here, that's what they're negotiating about. All right? As for whoever gets drafted at number three, I think it's going to be negotiating about. All right. As for whoever gets drafted at number three, I think it's going to be a quarterback. All right. What they're going to negotiate about is when is he getting the signing bonus. Are they breaking it up in one payment, two payments, three payments, and when those dates. Because basically, by now, every first-round pick,

we know that their salary is going to be fully guaranteed all four years. All right? So what they negotiate about, Mike, is – but for the Patriots, it's different for different teams. For the Patriots, their first-round pick is going to be when does he get the signing bonus. Right. And I'll say this, and I ask you, i'll say this and i and i ask you i'll say this that it's been a while since a quarterback who's drafted in the top 10 top 10 signed his deal in spring i expect if they

draft the quarterback at number three i'm not expecting to sign his deal until july i'm not saying is that it's just been that way. That's been the practice that's been happening that way. So if they don't sign their quote in June, April, May, June, don't freak out. That's been the practice, right? He will be there day one, right? Day one of training game, because that's really, that's what really matters. If he signs, it doesn't matter, like, but he's not gonna,

it's not gonna affect the game performance if he signs a deal on July 13th, as opposed to May 13th. Why don't, but that's, I don't know why they wait, but they do. I guess one reason why they wait is to avoid paying out signing bonus and get two months of interest on the $27 million. Hey, every little bit helps me. Yeah, exactly. When you're signing a $27 million signing bonus, you want to make sure that you get as much as possible. Yeah, a great payday for whoever is

going to be that third quarterback, as I like to say in Godfather language, these allude that. But Miguel, I think it's good that you highlighted that point, because we've seen this in the past, where Christian Gonzalez last year was one of the last picks to you know the top picks usually do go into part of the year mid late july you start to see these guys coming in for training camp and things start to get interesting i think it's going to be very interesting for the new england patriots to see how things are going to shake out again folks this is not a done deal but we expect that at number three the patriots will be taking the quarterback miguel just said that as well and it's the highest quarterback the Patriots have taken since 1993

and Drew Bledsoe. So it's been a while up here in New England since a top 10 prospect walked through the doors of Gillette Stadium or the old Foxborough Stadium, for that matter, really going back and being this high of a draft pick here in New England. Uncharted territory, but not only do we have the brain trust in place in Foxborough to help us get there, we've got the man with all the financial

answers as well. So the Patriots are well set. No problems figuring out the finance. Just consult this guy right here, and he's got all the answers for you, folks. Well, I should say one thing about the draft. It doesn't matter what position you play. You're getting the same amount of bonus. It doesn't matter. So you would pay that

third overall pick. He's getting the same amount of money if he's playing the quarterback, offensive tackle, Jowalt, or wide receiver Marvin Harrison. They get the same deal. It doesn't matter. Absolutely. Miguel, we've arrived at that time, folks, and you are all excited for that time because it is time for our good friend to do what he does best here on Locked On Patriots, a segment that's been unique to this pod for a number of years. It's hard to believe five years now running. Miguel has been a part of our coverage here on Locked On Patriots, and it truly is my

honor and privilege each and every time he joins us. And I especially love this segment we're about to embark on, my friend. Miguel is going to set the record straight, but not in the usual manner. Some of our listeners, some of Miguel's loyal followers typed in some questions and submitted them by Twitter.

We're going to answer those questions, or I should say Miguel is going to answer the majority of those questions. I'll lend some wisdom and counsel where I can as well. And we're about to set the record straight here on Locked On Patriots when we continue and wrap up this Foxborough Finance episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast,

a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Patriots fans, it may be the NFL offseason, but it's playoff time in the NBA and the NHL. Baseball's in full swing, and FanDuel is your place to bet on every game. So listen up, because right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets guaranteed. That's $150 win or lose.

Bet on everything from slap shots to home runs to slam dunks, all on an app that is safe, secure, and easy to use. So what are you waiting for? Put your Boston sports fandom to the test with FanDuel. Visit FanDuel.com and make your first bet an automatic win. FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook. Patriots fans, once again, we are regaled by the wisdom, the counsel, the wit, and the laugh of my good friend, Miguel Benzon, the Pats cap himself. Miguel, one of the things that I love about having you on the pod, bud, is we've always done a segment here called Setting the Record Straight,

where you take a look at all those erroneous cat myths that are floating around out there or questions that are had by beat writers, fans alike, anyone. And you give us the insight that we really need in order to help understand the salary cap. There are a lot of your followers that have questions as well. And I think this is brilliant that we chose to incorporate these into our pod today. I'm going to let you take the ball on this one, bud, because it is time for Miguel to set the record straight and take some questions from all of you out there in the Twitterverse. So without further ado, my friend, our good friend Tanner James, longtime long time fan of miguel's mostly submitted a question to him on twitter and tanner thank you for the question here he'd like to know with that last year being so large is it essentially a two to three year deal in disguise once the guaranteed

money gets out on the player and so the players aren't playing on a one-year option. So he's guaranteed the first – Kyle Tucker has first two-year salary guaranteed. After that, he's in 2026, he can get cut and you'll create cap space. 2027, if he's not playing well, you can cut and create cap space. It's like Andrew Brandt, who's a former gm likes to say most nfl deals are two years and let's see in this case this is exactly true for kyle duggar he's got two years where he can pretty much be guaranteed he's gonna get his money all right because his salaries is fully guaranteed he is will be incentivized to show up for the off-season workout bonus and get his $250,000 next year.

And then, of course, if he's healthy, he's going to be active for every game in 2023, 2024, and 2025. It's listed as a four-year deal, but it actually could be as short as two. And that's the best way I can frame it. I'd just say two years and see. And just basically, if he had the third-year salary fully guaranteed, I would say three years in C. It's two years in C.

Very good point, and I think that's something that Miguel addressed even a little earlier here on the pod in showing you the dead money, showing you the salary cap implications, and when you get to year three, all of a sudden it gives the Patriots an out if Kyle is no longer performing at a high level. We all expect

that he will. If he continues to perform at the level he has since he's walked through the door here, Patriots got a good four-year deal to keep a very solid safety, in my opinion, a guy with all pro capabilities in the fold for four years. But it's nice to know that they do have that out. So, Miguel, thank you for setting the record straight there. And Tanner, thanks for the great question and for you submitting that to Miguel's Twitter. Miguel, we're moving right along here and we're going to take a question from a Mad Bomber of all things.

Mad Bomber 13. I love that handle. This is a great handle. Yeah. Okay. Mad Bomber wants to know the difference between your salary cap number and the number that's reached by the NFL Players Association. And what does he mean by that? I had tweeted out a link to the NFL public salary cap page, right?

And there's a difference between my number and the NFL PA's number. And the big difference is I'm accounting for the off-season workout bonus money, right? Per rule, it hits the cap at the beginning of the league year, which is March 13th. So it's $315 for 32 sessions times 90 players, which comes out to $907,200. The NFLPA will eventually lower every team cap number by that number. It just hasn't happened yet. I thought it would have been done by now because the offseason program is in effect. But the next couple of parts are going to happen in the next couple of weeks.

But that's the difference, the major difference. There is another $140,000 difference, but that usually happens because they and I disagree who's in the top 51. I don't worry about that number, the $140,000, because I don't know who they have in the top 51. Let's put it this way. I've seen their reports. Their reports do not highlight who's in the top 51. That's all I got to say without giving out too much secrets. Absolutely.

You know, bottom line, folks, you know, people agree to disagree all the time. They say variety is the spice of life. Who counts it? Who doesn't? My money's on Miguel. It's always going to be on Miguel. Maybe I'm overstepping my bounds a little bit. No disrespect to the NFLPA, but I'm always going with what this man has to say.

So I go by them because I can see their numbers change on a daily basis. But when Albert Breer or Field Yates post their salary cap numbers, they get in front of the NFL

Management Council, which is the Bible. That's what I go by. They haven't done it since the start of free agency because those guys are tied up with the draft work. Maybe they'll do that after the draft.

I know my number is spot But I know my number is spot on. I'm comfortable saying I'm at worst, I'm $140,000 off at worst. All right. And that's all I got. I'm confident in my accuracy. When the cap number is $255, 255 main, and I am at worst $140,000, I'm good with that.

And I'm pretty sure I'm spot on. I'm absolutely sure you're spot on. I think it's interesting that you point out the $907,000 and that it has not been deducted from the team's totals yet. And you did mention that the off-season programs are in effect. Folks, keep a sharp eye out this week for that because most of the teams now will be opening off-season workouts on Monday, April 15th. Don't forget the Patriots, Falcons, Panthers,

they all have new head coaches. They were able to open one or even two weeks early sometimes. Most of these teams are going to start opening up now on the 15th. So keep a sharp eye out for that. You might see that number deduct this week. I can't say that for sure. Miguel and I are kind of speculating here a little bit, but that may be one of the reasons why you haven't seen it yet,

because not every team has had the opportunity to open those workouts. So Mad Bomber 13, excellent question. Thank you for submitting that to Miguel. And Miguel, thank you for sharing that with us, but we're not done yet, folks. Another good friend of the program, Brandon Husek, wants to know, Miguel, what is the benefit or benefits

of not utilizing the remaining cap? Is there going to be higher cap space in the future? He answers his own question, but I'll just say this. His question says not use land. They will use the cap space.

I started out the 2013 season because that's when the transition from the 2011 CBA really kicked in. All right? You could see at the start of training camp, the Patriots had about $11.8 million. The average ending the season with $4.25 million in cap space, all right? So they used the – and then they had some – in some spaces, they had some moves that created cap space, right?

So you could see how much they used from the end of the static training camp to the end. All right? And last year, look how much they used. $16.1 million in cap space last year. I guess they had so many players going IR. All right?

None of us know right now, Mike, who's going to get hurt. And this number is really dependent on who gets hurt. All right. Unfortunately. So they could use $9 million in cash raise from the time of training camp based on the average. All right.

I don't know because I don't know who's going to get hurt. And that's what I'm – so, I mean, of course, the 2020 thing is – plays a big part in the average. So that's why I have its own row. All right? So even with that, that's about $7 million in cap space. It really depends, Mike, on injuries and how many players earn not likely to be earned actor roster bonuses All right?

They have, for example, Raekwon McMillan, who didn't play a game last year If he's active for game one, he's going to earn an actor roster bonus That's going gonna hit the cap so he could do that 17 times all right you know what i'm saying so um it's they're gonna use the cap space because for example like they're gonna just take they stay at their draft they don't make any trades and with the draft class they're're going to use $8.3 million. All right? So when you see these start of training camp numbers, right,

this is after they sign the draft picks. So we have signed the draft picks, and then you have all the stuff that happens during the season. So what you have, you've got to sign your practice squad players. You've got to replace the players that get injured. You've got players earning not likely to be earned after roster bonuses. All right? You have all that.

And then you got the practice squad elevations. And with that new rule with the third quarterback, Nathan Rock or Bailey Zappi might get elevated more. And their salary increases that week when they get when they get elevated all right um so if the um the places that pages have no concern about the page uh cap space so i just wanted to so that's i want to show that and this is the history of them. Of course, they keep on changing the rules about the practice squad elevations. So I'm wondering if they're going to elevate Nathan Rourke or Billy Zappi more. That's going to take a little bit of cap space each time they do it. All right. So answer the question, high cap space in the future You get to roll over

100% Of the unused cap space So you see in that Column it says ending That's what the Patriots rolled over into next year Alright so let's Say let's just use $20 million to end the season with

$20 million in cap space Alright that $20 million G end the season with $20 million on gap space. All right. That $20 million gets added to the adjusted cap number. And let's just say the league cap number is $280 million. All right. So then you get the $280 million league cap plus the $20 million that the pitchers carry over. All right.

And I don't know what's going to happen with the incentives. So let's just keep that out. That's $300 million. Their cap space, their adjusted cap number is going to be $300 million. If the Patriots carry over $20 million, and right now since they lead the league in cap space, it seems reasonable right now to project that the Patriots will lead the league in carryover base to either sign more players or give the players a bigger salary when you're signing them to free agent deals.

We'll see. I will not take a guess on the ending cap space until September because it's so dependent, Mike, on the injuries. Oh, man. If I – Mike, like literally last year, I think I said in September that the Patriots would end the season with $1.5 million. They end the season with $22 million after creating cap space.

$22,000. I mean, $22,317, right? So, like, literally, in each week, I would just – they're losing cash they're losing cash fees because they keep on putting players on ir and it's just crazy last year was um so hopefully that answers the question i think that answered the question absolutely i believe it did and definitely a good question and multi-layered question brandon thank you very much for sending that along and Miguel, thank you for not only the visual aids

in giving us what the training camp impact is on the salary cap space and whatnot, but also being able to give us an idea as to what happens from year to year with salary cap. Folks, biggest takeaway from that, 100% of the salary cap space unused can be carried over. There is no penalty for that. So the Patriots sitting pretty right now,

more than enough to be able to operate throughout the year and a lot left over to look forward to 2025. And Miguel, we have one more question before we close up the mailbag and adjourn for the day here on Locked On Patriots. And it comes from Sruly23. And Sruly23 wants to know, Miguel, with so much cap space unused, why not front load the contract? And they're referring to Kyle Duggar's contract here, folks.

Like the opposite way. So what he's basically saying is like the Patriots and his cap number goes from $7.5 million in 2024 to $18 million in 2027. The question then becomes, why didn't they increase this cap number this year and have a lower cap numbers in the future? Okay.

That's not how the Patriots do business. I understand the argument for it, but that's not how the Patriots do business. I understand the argument for it, but that's not how the Patriots do business. Why they don't do this business? I think they want the flexibility right now. What I mean by flexibility, they could right now,

if they could trade for T. Higgins, they could do so. But if you front... So know, say, let's put, so that's what the seven, if you made his cap, Cal Duggar's cap number, $18 million, right? That cuts into the cap space, right? And they, without knowing who's going to get injured, right? And I'll say this, if they want to extend Christian Barmore, his cap number, unlike Kyle Duggar, whose cap number was $13.8 million,

and they lowered it by $6 million to $7.5 million. If you extend Christian Barmore this year, his cap number is going up because his salary is so low all right so you and and i'm talking like if you're doing a deal with christian bauma what i'm not talking about like increasing his cap number by like one million dollars or two million dollars i'm talking like a deal is gonna probably increase his cap number somewhere in the five to ten maybe even 12 million dollars all right because the defensive tackle marker has been booming like i put down these um people get just signed something like i just signed for another 24 million dollars all right

um christian baumo is going to be easily the youngest good defensive tackle that hits the market in 2025. all right i don't know what the cap uh we don't know what the cap number is going to be next year but let's let's just use wrong numbers, Mike. Let's just use $280 million for the 2024 lead cap number. Based on the history of the franchise tag, we can presume, guess, that the defensive tackle number is going to be 9% of that. 9% of $280 million is $25 million, $25.2 million.

That's what I've been using for his tag number. Yeah. All right. And then you figure, you know, saying you're 20% of all that, that's another $5 million. So he's looking at, well, if I play out my rookie

deal and I get tagged twice, I'm making $55 million in 2025 and 2026. So his thinking should be like, if I'm signing the deal in 2024, I got to make at least $56 million because he's got about $1 million salary this year. I got to make $56 million because he's got a $1 million salary this year. I got to make $56 million at least in the next year. Which means he's increased his cap number by a lot. I think it's

about the flexibility. You have the flexibility now. You have the flexibility in the future. They moved back to trade deadline one week. Say somebody wants to trade a player. You could pick up their salary as is

and trade for the player and then give them an extension. Or if you want to and trade for the player and then give an extension. All right? Or if you want to, if there's a team who wants to do the what, what we buy, maybe you can buy a draft pick in the 2025 draft by taking on a bad salary for his own team in the middle of the season. Like, say, you know, saying, like, you got a guy who's got maybe $4 million left in the salary in the 2020 this season, but he's going, his team wants to get rid of him, all right,

because they need the cap space to operate the rest of the year, all right? You could, they'll trade you to player and they give you a draft pick. Something like that. I mean, it's flexibility-wise. I never expect them to front load the cap because that's not what they've been doing in the 20-plus years I've been covering them. If you ask that question to Elliot Wolfe, it would be a great – I would love to see someone, someone ask him that question

and see what his answer is. But I would think it would be something around, his answer would be around the flexibility. Miguel, what can I say? Tremendous information and always spot on. Folks, we absolutely had a blast bringing your questions to the forefront on new Miguel Mailbag segment here

on Locked On Patriots. I thought that was great questions. But all kidding aside, thank you all for the great questions. And Miguel, thank you for sharing those here and sharing your answers, your wisdom, your counsel, and your insight as always here on Locked On Patriots. Folks, I always say it. He is the salary cap

top gun. There is no plaque for the alternates. The man has no equal when it comes to what he does. Miguel, before I let you go, my friend, please let everyone know where they can interact with you, reach out to you, and what kind of wisdom and counsel you'll be providing in the days and hours leading up to this

month's NFL draft. I'm on Twitter. Hats cap. As for the draft, I'm looking forward to the patriots picking a draft a quarterback all right once i'm using the projected ricky pool numbers a couple days after the draft we'll get the official numbers um i'm then i'll get the we'll get the whole signings of the undrafted draft picks i just like to remind people these signings are not official of the undrafted yeah it's not official

um so just just be patient they're not going to take out highly any cap space folks they've they got a very small signing bonus so they might take up in total, let's say the Patriots sign 12 undrafted free agents. They might take up no more than $150,000 in cap space. I wouldn't worry about it. All right. And I'll just say this, the guaranteed money, folks, please don't fall in love with that number. It's meaningless. It's meaningless.

What the player does during training camp is what's going to guarantee put them on the roster now how much guaranteed money you got bottom line folks whenever you need a salary cap question answered or addressed miguel is always there whether it be on these airwaves or the airwaves of another patriots podcast out there usually the patriots media or just on his own Twitter page. Miguel is absolutely ready to answer these questions and to give us all the wisdom and counsel we need to be more informed football fans and folks. To show your appreciation of this great man,

please, by all means, give back to the great work that he does for Habitat for Humanity. You can find Miguel's donation page at fundraise.givesmart.com slash VF slash Pat's Cap. Definitely check that out. Every little bit helps and help Miguel help others as well, because not only does he help us here in Patriots Nation with all of our cap questions, he's also helping people find their forever homes. And it truly is a remarkable thing that he does. One of the great guys in the business, both on camera and off.

And I say that without equivocation. You're a great man, and I'm honored to have you as a friend. And folks, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to join us here today on Locked on Patriots. In the meantime, I'm Mike DeBate. And on behalf of my good friend, Miguel, the Pat's Cat Benzon, reminding you all to stay safe and to stay well and to be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone, and we'll see you back here again tomorrow on Locked on Patriots.