Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots: Post-Draft Fiscal Fitness Report from PatsCap

Episode Date: May 6, 2023

With just north of $12 million in available salary cap space, the New England Patriots are moving forward with signing members their 2023 NFL Draft class. Though Kayshon Boutte was the first domino to fall, the contracts of Christian Gonzalez, Keion White, Marte Mapu and more await. Host Mike D’Abate welcomes Miguel ‘PatsCap’ Benzan for the latest on the Patriots salary cap situation, including rookie contracts and possible restructures of tight end Hunter Henry and more.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!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.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

Patriots fans, it is time for Foxborough Finance Friday. It's time for a fiscal fitness report with our good friend. The Pat's Cap is here. Stick around. You are 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 a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage and your first listen every day.

Remember, Locked On Patriots, sign up for free wherever you get your podcasts, including YouTube. Make sure that you receive the latest episode as soon as it's available. I'm your host, Mike DeBate, and I cover your New England Patriots for Patriots Country of Sports Illustrated, so reach out to me. Let me know what's on your mind on Twitter at M-D-A-B-A-T-E-N-F-L. While you're out there showing some love

to the Twitterverse, please be sure to follow the Locked On Patriots account as well at L-O underscore Patriots. Pats fans, we're not wasting any time today. It is time for a fiscal fitness report for your New England Patriots, and we welcome the guru of Foxborough Finance, the man I like to call the great and powerful

Wizard of Benzon, my good friend, Miguel the Patscap Benzon joins me here today. Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to join me here on this post-draft Bucksboro Finance Friday, buddy. Oh, it's always a pleasure. I mean, I heard you guys talk about me. You and Murph talked to me. I'm like, all right, I'm going to get that DM pretty soon from Mike.

All right. And then, of course, this should work out perfectly because I was expecting the Wolf Pack to sweep the Providence Bruins Wednesday night. But they're playing tonight, so I'm going to that game. So we have to rush. All right. Okay. So thank you so much.

Absolutely. Yeah, your Connecticut guys are doing a real number on my Providence guys. We're not going to. We'll save that for a conversation for another day right now, but no, all kidding aside, but right off the bat, I always say, folks, he is the only source that I need when it comes to Foxborough finance. And there really is nothing more to say about that. So let's dive right into this. But according to your calculations, the Patriots currently have $12,151,622 in available cap space. That accounts for the just north of $4 million four-year deal that wide receiver Keishon Butte signed,

his rookie deal, first domino to fall when it comes to the rookies. But Miguel, all Patriots fans right now are wondering what this means for New England, not just Boutte's deal, but we know Patriots made a lot of picks and they need to sign these picks and they need to get them in the Foxborough Bowl, preferably before training camp. But we all know that's not necessarily required. Sometimes these things take longer and guys do still show up. But ultimately, what does this mean Foxborough finance wise for the New England Patri patriots floor is yours my friend we got a lot to talk about and uh we're waiting with baited red we'll start with booty all right we'll say um the pages the last several years have been signing day three picks one or a couple of them early right after the draft and i'm being right out the only in between

within two weeks of the draft all right i okay i heard about it heard about it was to me was no big deal but i then people are saying oh my gosh i mean he's gonna make the team he's guaranteed a spot because he got so much money he got the money that that a person at 187 was supposed to get. These deals are slotted. He got no more, no less than a player who's got drafted at 187 was going to get. Not because, you know, he didn't get any more, didn't get any less. In fact, if you looked at what the guy got last year who dropped a 187 he actually got boo boo tay got a small sign of bones to that gentleman but because the rookie salaries have

gone up each year so um from 705 705 000 last year 750 000 this year all right butte will get more or earn more cash if he makes the team than the guy he did last year who dropped on the same spot that's pretty expected because the cap has gone up the rookie pool unfortunately for the draft picks hasn't really gone up that much all right it only went like less than 2%. I don't know how to say this politely. Okay. So let's just look at the history of the Patriots in six-round picks. We know they picked the greatest player at 199. All right.

So during the Bill Belichick era, the Patriots have made 38 six-round draft picks. Only 16 of them, Mike, have made the week one roster. That's like one out of three. All right? 12 were waived. Seven were placed on injury reserve. One, Joshua Bledsoe, was placed on non-football injury list. And one, Arthur Love, which I thought was a cool way he spelled his name,

with an E-R instead of U-R, was placed on P-U-P. One gentleman, Matthew Wells, was traded. All right? So in my mind, the Patriots, he's got a one out of three chance of making the team. Mm-hmm. All right? Based on past history. Excuse me.

All right? all right that based on past history excuse me all right um they have cut players who've gotten much larger song signing bonuses this gentleman has keisha martin one time got a 600 000 bonus in january they cut the pages cut them in september late for the same year if they're doing willing to do that taking when the and now is before a couple years ago all right they will they'll be able to so easily easily eat the dead money for him because he's low risk high reward right because his dead money if they when they if they were to cut him into 10, it would be just under $47,000. Their cap number is over $220 million.

That's insignificant, immaterial. Right? Like, he didn't even change. Like, only his signing bonus per ration is counting against the cap. The $750,000 is not counting against the cap because of the top 51 rule. Because we're right now in the offseason where the Patriots will have 90 players on the roster, but only the salaries of 51 players count against the cap right now.

And those are the 51 players with the highest cap numbers. He doesn't qualify for that list. So out of the 12 only three will qualify the list gonzalez white and mapu all right um i was surprised i i i'm a geek a salary cap geek so i was didn't think about it that somebody would say wow he got this much money. Because to us, getting a $200,000 signing bonus sounds like a lot. It's a lot. But in the NFL, it means relatively nothing. Right.

All right. I think hopefully that addresses your question and answers the question. All I got to say is that he's, like Murph said, there's so much upside. Even if he balls out, all right, the next three years, his salary in the last contract in 2026 is still going to be ridiculously low, all right? Even if he earns a proven performance escalator,

which raises the salary of players drafted to rounds two through seven. All right. He's, you know, low RFA. At the best, he's going to be a $6 million hit. I mean, salary. I mean, that's a couple of bro bowls in there. And if he's a couple of pro bowls, we will. But nobody's complaining about $6 million salary in 2026.

All right. That's all I got to say gotta say i mean i'm surprised i mean like the gentleman just tweeted at me and i guess he saw a lot of tweets and then i've been getting you know you know somebody said that's on team like a lot of money for a six-pound pick i'm like um not really it's what he's supposed to get i mean it's not even close to what the guys get in the first round. Like, Gonzalez is going to get a signage bonus around $8 million. Keon White's going to get a signage bonus around $2.7 million. Mapu's going to get about $1 million.

Bouti, you've got $187,000. That's not even close in that range. I mean, I know you guys had mentioned that he was projected to be in a long time ago right to be in the first round all right by being a six round pick he lost a lot of money i wouldn't be surprised that that's one of the reasons he's one of the first guys to sign he's want to get his money up front um i don't know we'll see. I really didn't, never really kept track of when the first Patriot player got signed, the first draft pick,

second time. I just kept track of the last one. All right. Because that's, because that's the one that really matters. You don't really want the guys to miss any time in training camp. All right. And I'll just say this.

I'm not expecting, the only possible, my guess is for the guy who takes the longest to sign is Keyon White. And we'll go over is because he's in the second round. And they had agents are trying to negotiate how much money second round picks guaranteed salary. They get in the third year of the deal. And for him,

it'd be 2025. All right. His counterpart last year. salary they get in the third year of the deal and for him would be 2025 all right his counterpart last year got a very small percentage of his 2000 his third year salaries which would be 2024 guaranteed so he's got some negotiating he's not close to 100 so there's a big wiggle room the patrons thankfully there's no the texans not dropped did not drive from fun because the texans just throw out all the slotting with the guaranteed money all the time all right the paychecks tend to not to be tend to be sometimes they go beyond the slotting with the guaranteed money and sometimes sometimes they go under. Right. I can't tell.

We'll see. I'm not expecting any problems with the third-round pick. I said this, I tweeted it out. That battle has been won. Patriots fans, as you absorb the wisdom and counsel of our good friend Miguel Benzon, the Pats cap himself, please remember that today's episode is brought to you by our good friends over at Bilt.

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If you're close to a Sam's Club, even better. Run in, grab a 13-bar box with our hit flavors, brownie batter puff or churro puff. Folks, don't delay. Do it today, and you'll thank me later. You've got to try this. Built.com. In the third round for the last several years, the agents were trying to make sure that the drafted player would max out his salary. And by that, I mean in the CBA,

their salary increases are limited to 25% of their first year cap number. All right? And so you can see here that he's going to have a $750,000 salary. The signing bonus ration for this year is $261,000. So that adds up to just a little over $1.01 million. All right. 25% of that is about a quarter of a million dollars. So that's how much his salary can increase for each year all right before last year not every third round pick got the 25 maxed out last year they did so this year

what they're going to try to do um the agent's going to try to do is try to have some salary in the first year guaranteed which to me is meaningless you're not going to cut a third round pick but that's what the agents are going to do so I don't see any problems with signing him in the past it's been a third round this has been a third round pick for the Patriots that's been the one of the last ones assigned like Jacoby Brissett and it's because he was specifically in the third round now i expect if there's gonna be any delay in signing fix and i'm gonna i'm gonna say this right now shy sullivan don't come at me until it's near training camp about being worried about the traffic's getting signed all right um it's gonna be key on white and it's because of the

how much guaranteed salary they get. And not in the first year, because that's going to be fully guaranteed. Not in the second year, because that's going to be fully guaranteed. But how much they get in the third year. And you can see right here in the bottom of this graphic of Mapu, I have some dead money here. All right. And I talk about that. I couldn't do that for White because I don't know how much I wasn't comfortable guessing how much he was going to guess because the Patriots have a wide range. There's a wide range for them. So I just want to talk about that in the third round of things. If we could go to Christian Gonzalez, if we don't mind.

Absolutely. All right. I want to see you see here in's deal, all of his money, all of his four years, fully guaranteed. That's why you see in the dead money portion some with a cap savings, some negative numbers here, because if you were to cut them, all of his salary for future salaries would be accelerated to that year's cap. And plus some player will replace him on the top 51 list.

All right? So, you know, we hear about Lamar Jackson, he wanted a fully guaranteed salary. The media really doesn't make a big deal about how all 32 first round picks are to get fully guaranteed salaries this year all right folks it's you know so it happens fully guaranteeing chapters in the nfl happens all the time and that number increases by usually 32 this year 31 draft picks first round graphics let's um do you want to go to some other players? We can talk about that.

Yeah, I think that'll be, you know what, let's do the big three. We've taken care of Christian Gonzalez, Marte Mapu. I think the natural progression here, let's take a look at Keon White. I know you've talked about him a little bit. This is one I know Patriots fans might be interested in. So let's bring up Keon. Here he goes. Okay, so Ke keon white he's gonna have his first year's out 2023 salary 2024 salary fully guaranteed i don't know yet we won't know yet maybe hopefully while you were doing this show he gets signed all right i don't know how much of his 2025 salary will keep the guarantee it's gonna be a small percentage mike it might be about two200,000 but I don't know could be a hundred thousand could be under 50,000 somewhere in that range all right he is because his salaries are fully guaranteed but in the first two years we

could pretty much sure he could be on the roster next season next two years all right as and I should have said this with Christian Gonzalez he even if he goes on Christian's house goes on I his salary doesn with Christian Gonzalez he even if he goes on Christian South goes on I are his salary doesn't change he on white if he goes on I is Sally won't go on go on go on change my poop because he's third round prick pick excuse me his salary will not change but the guys drafted in the fourth fifth sixth and seventh round this house will change change and will get lowered if they go on IR. All right?

So when people talk about the Foxborough flu, they don't talk about the – they hardly ever mention these, the monetary impact of doing – of being on IR. All right? So not only for these, for the Patriots, you lose – your first-year salary goes down. Your second-year salary, which would have been $915,000, then goes to $795,000. So you're losing close to, Mike, about half a million dollars if you go on the I.I. this year,

if you're a drafted player in the last lower rounds. So when people say the Foxborough flu, it's funny because it's illiterate. I know you probably say it a lot because you like alliteration. Absolutely. But it has an impact on these guys. And if you go on the I.I., it makes it that much in the first couple of years of your deal, it makes it that much harder to earn the proof of performance escalator, which raises your salary in the fourth year of the deal.

And you can't be part of, if you're on an IR for the entire year, you don't get any part of the performance pay, performance pay plan, which pays you the lower paid salaries, more money for more staffs they get. All right? Like, Awan has been cleaning up in that regard the last three years. He's almost come close to doubling his salary through that program. I mean, basically, the lower salary you have and the more snaps you have, the more money you get in that program. So that's why it's not a benefit for those players to go on IR these years,

early in their careers. So we went over that. I do want to just say one thing about this. Demiro, Douglas, and MS Speed will sign the exact same deals because comp picks get the same deal even though they're on the same slot so that doesn't speed we're drafted that was back to 210 speed was dropped to 214 exact same deal so every time when you have a comp picks and then the bottom of third round fourth round fifth round sixth round seventh round they all get the same deal. So it's going to literally be cookie cutter for the Patriots

to get those two deals done. I wouldn't be surprised if they're done in the next seven days. And I should say this. Last year, the second Friday after the draft, May 13th, 97 players were signed 97 drivers we're already hearing more and more draft picks getting signed this week than we did last year at this time so i don't think 90 would have reached that 97 but i expect maybe 80 and a good number of them patriots will be some of them will be pages i'll be I think they'll have,

I will see what happens with the second round picks because that could be interesting because the top of the second round picks, they want to have their fourth year salary fully guaranteed. And while the bottom, they want to have the third spot increase how much their third year salaries increased.

We have yet to hear that a second round pick has yet to sign. So I wouldn't be surprised at that. Because actually this year, signing the first round picks is going to be so much easier than signing the second round picks. They're all full year, fully guaranteed deals. Unless you're the

oh my gosh, the Chargers or somebody stupid like the Bears where you really care about how much signing bonus you pay out because that's one of those negotiating items i guess we could talk about what they get now getting this negotiated in rookie deals and i have that hold on a minute so but none of those things really apply to the pay fits this year literally the stuff that i i i sent out in this tweet about

negotiating them won't apply to the 12 draft picks except for the the second for keon white i mean the signing but how much the the the layaway plan for signing bonuses folks like you know christian gonzalez he might get $8 million and they might negotiate, say, hey, I'll get $4 million now and $4 million in September. That's what they might negotiate, but that's not going to hold up a deal. I know one

of the bosses that held up a deal, which I didn't get, I didn't understand on that part. For the Patriots, the split salary, they make the players take a split salary. So when they go into IR, some teams you can negotiate. The Patriots, it's a done deal. They're not going off of that. They would have to set a precedent.

They're not doing that at all. So, yeah, that's it mike i guess i mean no i mean it's good it is good to know that heading into now this next wave of where the patriot season is going now that the draft picks have fallen into line uh still probably maybe an unrestricted free agent out there i know the patriots still have a roster spot open i guess the next question on everybody's mind, Miguel, is with the 12 million change that the Patriots have in available space right now, what they may do in terms of opening up more space for operating costs throughout the year. Now, it's not to say that they have to. Maybe they do. You can enlighten us on that. Who right now seems to be a good candidate for maybe a

little bit of roster uh creativity i guess is the best way to put it uh to open up a little bit because i think the fact that the patriots did not select the tight end makes a extension for hunter henry maybe that much more uh likely or at least something the patriots may entertain the idea a little bit more maybe you can enlighten us a little more on that. Okay, so let's – the Patriots right now probably going to be right at the edge of having enough cap space to operate the end of the year. Okay. The end of the year.

Well, the problem is none of us know how many players get injured. Right. If they have a bad year like they do in 2015, they're going to need to create cap space. But if they have a good, healthy year like they had in 2014, they'll probably have enough cap space. And if, remember I talked about how these guys in the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh rounds, the that don't count against the gap, they all make the roster.

That means they're beating out higher-salary players for the team. All right? So let's say Isaiah Bolden beats out Miles Brandon for a spot in the secondary. All right? That creates about $2 million of cap space. If one of those, let's say Mafi, Mafi beats out Yanni Caduz for a space on the offensive line, that creates about $2 million in cap space.

You do that a couple, several times, Mike, the Patriots might be able to create six seven eight ten million dollars in cash just for having the lowest salary players beat out a higher salary player all right i'm surprised and we're doing the show at 505.09 right now so maybe they've released nick folk i am surprised they haven't released that boatogg after they drafted the kicker. Alright? Because if he gets hurt during OTAs,

his salary becomes fully guaranteed because of the injury protection. Alright? Because he goes on IR, he might not earn his active roster bonuses, but he's getting his salary. He's getting his salary. So that he's getting this out so that's why some plays some teams you hurt right before the drafts and during the draft some teams were

cutting players because they're saying i don't want to take a chance on this guy getting hurt during the only day all right and i'm surprised that they haven't the pages haven't cut a couple of players on to make room for more ut they have a's or take a chance, prevent the player from getting hurt while he's in OTAs. As for they have, like you said, Hunter Henry is a possibility to create. We'll just go with the big money. Hunter Henry for sure is a chance to create cap space. You can lower his cap number with an extension by $5 million.

All right. cap space you can lower his cap number with an extension by five million dollars all right you could reach out to my favorite pretend gm matthew judon reach an extension or just convert salary it's a signing bonus and that created about five million dollars they have oh my gosh you get rid of nick folk you get rid of yanni you could use get rid of Yanni Kajust, you do some of this, you can create another $15 million in cap space. So they have enough ways to create cap space. So if there was someone to become available via trade,

whoever that is, you pick your favorite player, right? Okay, whoever it is, whatever it is this book's all right um it's not gonna be larry fitzgerald whoever it is and from now until the trade trade deadline the people the pages have the capability to create the cast piece to get that player all right and that's all you could ask i don't think that's what you could ask for um Oh, I just think of Elijah, Joe, all those times. The one that got away. Absolutely.

The one that got away, folks. And, you know, we're sure that now that Miguel has told us it's possible for the Patriots to trade for someone, that Internet photo of the gentleman at the Hertz counter at Logan Airport is going to be popping up all over the place. And they're going to be tagging Miguel and saying, perfect, the Patriots can trade for this guy. No, it's not going to happen. We're not going to let it happen. I'm trying to think.

Who can't they trade for? Because a lot of players who are really good have really low salaries this year. But the thing is, they have a lot of dead minds their team won't trade them all right um i was trying to think what else i wanted to say about the draft picks i i gotta say this i was can i just say this out of out of the police go ahead close yours but i yours. I wanted Christian Gonzalez. I thought the Patriots were going to trade off for him. And then they get him at 17.

And I know you had the guy from Lockdown, Oregon the other day. Did I just listen to him today? Spencer McLaughlin, yep. Okay, I got to say, this is his dad joke. Made me chuckle, but I don't know. I wouldn't be going into my boss asking him it was funny not and have my job on the line for a dad joke well i know his boss i think his boss might actually like it he has the same

bad sense of humor that i do so he might be okay you have to know your avenue and your lane and land here i think we've got a shot at it. But no, I'm kidding. Yeah, Spencer was great in terms of the information on Christian Gonzalez. And you've helped to bring the financial aspect of it right into lockstep here in New England. And really, I think, give a lot of people a lot to be excited about. This is an exciting class. It's a big class. Patriots have been playing 12 players for the first time since 2010.

So a lot to think about and a lot to keep track of. I don't know how you do it, but you do it better than anybody else in this league. That's why you always set the record straight here when you come on the lockdown. All those myths that float around, folks, stick it right here because this guy is never wrong.

I don't say that to pump his tire. They say it because it's accurate. And he really is amazing at what he does. And we're so thrilled that you lend your wisdom and counsel here, sometimes exclusively or first here on Locked On Patriots. We're grateful for that. And I couldn't thank you

enough. I mean, I'm setting the record straight on the boots. Hey, I'm like, what? I'm like, I couldn't believe it. I mean, I'm like setting the record straight on the boots. Hey, I'm like, what? I'm like, I couldn't believe it. I mean, the problem with being a cap Nord, like myself, is that you tend not to think like the regular people. I'm like, I did not think that anyone would think that.

I know it's – I didn't think it was – I mean, yes, the Patriots have been signing players early. I just didn't think it was a big deal. They sign a player early each and every season, every year. It just happened to be a guy who fell for them. I'm in your camp. I was not surprised by the amount that he was signed for. I thought it was a standard deal. It really didn't raise an eyebrow.

But I did pick up on that as well. I think where a lot of the fan base is coming from, and I think you've really articulated this well, is the Patriots took a chance on Keyshawn Butte in the sixth round, pick number 187. Very, very highly touted before his injuries before off the field he was considered one of the top receivers in his class and really was uh exciting a lot of people with the way that he played and the upside that he has didn't show it in 2022 no question about it it caused a real severe tumble uh into the sixth round for him so the patriots in a lot of ways are taking a chance maybe the fan base is a little bit gun-shy hearing that,

and they're thinking, okay, well, the Patriots are committing this kind of money to a sixth-rounder that we're hearing could be a real hit or miss. But the Patriots doing that right off the bat, and credit to Keishon as well for signing the deal early and the Patriots getting this done, I think it shows the two sides are ready to work with one another. And if that's the case, this could lead to something big on the field and correct me if i'm wrong if this is a standard deal and the patriots get the type of output out of him the talent that he's capable of putting out there

could end up being a draft deal not just on the field but also on the wallet as well oh my gosh if if he played like a first round this, his deal is going to be ridiculously bogging. A ridiculously bogging. Because he's a draft pick, he cannot redo his deal until after his third season. Right. Oh my God.

If he balls out, the pitchers will have a tremendous bargain. Because guys like him are making $25 million a year. He is going to average, before

the proven performance escalator, just over a million. That's 4%. That's true. That's a tremendous... You're getting a 96% discount if he balls out. That's incredible, Mike. I just, like I said, I was surprised. And when somebody tweeted at me today, I'm like, I never, I didn't think it that way.

I mean, just like, oh, my gosh, he got a lot of money. That was the number he was supposed to get. I mean, I like, oh, my gosh, he got a lot of money. That was the number he was supposed to get. I mean, I don't know. You know, literally, they just, what was today's? He signed yesterday. Maybe on Tuesday they came up with the official numbers. Probably, yeah. Yeah, so, like, literally, I think he signed, supposedly, on the 2nd. I think he agreed to terms on the 2 he signed supposedly on the second i think right

agree to terms on the second but on the report it shows up on the report it shows up on the second i'm saying i have access i saw the report okay i did say i didn't see how to report all right so the other report it does say october second i mean may, excuse me. I don't know. I mean, 20 other guys signed that same day. Right. Like fifth-round picks and sixth-round picks. I just didn't think of a big deal.

But like you said, it's a tremendous – if he hits, it's a tremendous value, tremendous bargain. What else I wanted to say? Oh, exactly right. Malik – oh say? Oh, it's not great. Malik. Oh, my gosh. What's the last name? Rich Cunningham, right?

Is it Cunningham? The quarterback. Okay, my gosh. I don't want to think I'm Richie Cunningham. Malik Cunningham. It did not get the highest total guarantee for a draft speech. That was Jeff Temps. Somebody, I don't know, but that was Jeff Temps in 2012.

And to me, when a UDFA gets guaranteed salary, it's not a big deal for me because it has an offset. So for me, it's just it has an offset so for me it's just pre-paying the practice squad salary unless they get more than the how much they get in practice practice squad it's not a big deal for me um so i don't make a big deal i don't think it guarantees him a spot in the roster so if you're gonna do a 53-man roster projection please please please i'm begging you do not say that his 170 000 guaranteed salary guaranteed him spot on the roster please do not say that because that's not true it's not it's never been true that it's not true kishan ask kishan man if that's true ask andrew beck if that was true very good point i'm so glad that you brought up the guaranteed money, especially when it comes to undrafted free agents,

guys who are expected to be practice squad players. It doesn't necessarily mean that they won't get a roster spot, but it doesn't guarantee them one, and that is such an important part to remember here, folks, when we're talking about Patriots quarterback room that is now four players deep with Mac Jones, Bailey Zappi, Trace McSorley, and Malik Cunningham, that's a very good point. So I thank you for making that point, my friend,

because it's something that I think a lot of people need to remember. Yeah, so let's say Ross had cut down on the weekend, the Patriots waive him. And someone claims Malik Cunningham on waivers. That $170,000 guaranteed salary, that responsibility for paying it goes to his new team. So there's very little risk for the Patriots by giving him guaranteed salary. He would have to be horrendous

that he wouldn't get claimed on waivers or get signed to the practice squad. Right. Okay. You're absolutely right, and I'm glad that you mentioned Cunningham. We talked about dad jokes earlier. You're looking at him starting the Happy Days

theme right there. That could have been a real, real problem. I wouldn't do that to our listeners, first of all. I wouldn't do that to you, my friend. No, that is really, really bad if I would start doing that. I've already vowed to start retiring. A lot of my bad impressions here. Claire's happy about

it. So is Murph, and I know you are as well. Oh, no, I like them. I like them. I mean, I gotta give a shout out to Mark Jeff Mondays. You just had a crossover. Those are my two favorite days listening to the show.

I love those shows. The crossovers are going to keep coming. Right now, we're definitely working with a lot of our college hosts to get the background on a lot of Patriots draft picks, and there's quite a few of them, folks. We're going to cycle through 12 of them, so keep it right here to Locked On Patriots. Oh, that's awesome.

Mock Draft Mondays are actually going to start to 12 of them. So keep it right here to Locked On Patriots. Oh, that's awesome. Mock Draft Mondays are actually going to start to become Mailbag Mondays. And Murph and I are going to dip into the Locked On Patriots Mailbag, and we're going to take a look and start answering some of your great questions because Mondays are interactive here on Locked On Patriots, and the fans have spoken. You've got to give the people what they want. But what they want most is fiscal knowledge. And, my friend, what can I say?

You break the wisdom and counsel meter every single time you come here. A lot of guys do it when they come here into these seats, but you've done it with class and a style all your own. I can't thank you enough for that. Before I let you go today, my friend, is there anything else you would like to let our public know fiscally when it comes to the patriots or just anything even personal or anything related to what the great work that you're doing floor is yours my friend take us home for the weekend i'd like to remind everyone that devin mccordy's still officially on the roster his retirement will be processed after june 1st don't know when the guys like that you know uh exactly after june 1 first, but it will create about $200,000 in cap space.

Because his salary is at the very minimum for a guy with his experience. So a person, a player with a $940,000 salary will replace him on the top 51 list. The Patriots, like we said before, I believe are just on the bubble i have enough cap space to last throughout the year because all right um but they have several ways a great cap space i wouldn't worry about it um and well those folks who were obsessing about how much money the patriots were spending earlier this in march and february they can now include the signing bonuses for the 12th draft picks in their cash spending total because that cash spending total you saw on websites wasn't including draft picks um which was unfortunate for the patriots because they had a lot of graphics and now they

even have more graphics than they had all right um i think the pages are in good cap space and that's all you can ask as me as a guy who follows it that's all i can ask him to do um we'll see i'm looking forward to i'm hoping to be able to go to a couple of training camp practices during the summer um and i look forward to seeing you guys um if you know as you know on my pin tweet i try to raise money for the habitat for humanity. If someone donates to them this over this weekend, all right, and you can prove me, send me a DM

with proof, I will send you the workbook that I sent to Mike for this podcast. All right? Absolutely, folks. Insider info. Minimum donation is $6. Insider info.

Yeah. Minimum donation is $6, $1 for each Superman. Okay? Folks, it's a worthy cause, not just to get Miguel's wisdom and counsel when it comes to finances, which to me is unparalleled and by far the best in the business.

There's not even a close second. I always say the plaque for the alternates doesn't exist because the man has no equal, but it is such a worthy cause. All kidding aside, it truly is for what he's doing and the work that he does for Habitat for Humanity in the area, in the Hartford area. So please, if you're able to, definitely encourage you to do so. And, Bud, what can I say? We'll definitely have you back on here

before training camp to get another pulse check for the Patriots finances as this next wave of free agency may come uh before you know players start showing up and reporting for mini camps and whatnot but you've definitely helped us when it comes to the NFL draft and the draft picks folks if you still have any questions send send them right in to Miguel. I know he's always more than happy to help out. Drop them in the comments section here on YouTube as well, and we'll always be sure to include those. So, folks, definitely be sure to stay locked into Locked On Patriots.

This Monday, Murph and I are going to be talking about a few different topics here, but keep a sharp eye because we will be turning Mock Draft Mondays into Mailbag Mondays very shortly here on Locked on Patriots, and we want to get all of your great feedback. And in the meantime, please continue to stay safe, stay well. On behalf of my good friend, Miguel Benzon, the Pats cap himself, on Mike Debate. Have a great day, a great weekend, everyone, and we'll see you back here Monday on Locked on Patriots.