Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Patriots Finance Friday: PatsCap Talks Pats Salary Cap - 11/6/2020

Episode Date: November 6, 2020

The New England Patriots are set to take on the New York Jets on Monday Night Football. On November 9th. While that might be the story of the week, the Patriots’ finances continue to be a hot topic in and around Foxboro. Joining host Mike D’Abate is the “PatsCap” himself, Miguel Benzan. The pair discuss Bill Belichick’s cap management, New England’s 2021 cap outlook, and Miguel ‘sets the record’ straight on the various ‘salary cap myths’ circulating throughout Patriots Nation.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON,” and you’ll get 20% off your next order.MyBookieINVEST IN YOUR INTUITION. USE PROMO CODE LOCKEDON AND DOUBLE YOUR FIRST DEPOSIT. NEW PLAYERS GET UP TO $1,000 IN FREE PLAY - DESIGNED TO ADD MORE EXCITEMENT TO THE SPORTS YOU LOVE AND THE GAMES YOU BET. YOUR WINNING SEASON BEGINS TODAY...ONLY AT MYBOOKIE!BuiltGoVisit BuiltGO.com and use promo code “LOCKED,” and you’ll get 20% off your next order. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. You are now locked into the Locked On Patriots podcast. And thank football and Foxborough. It's Friday here on your daily home for news, notes, and analysis. Infused with the occasional opinion on your six-time Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots.

Locked On Patriots is presented today by Pepsi. Made for football watching. This football season will be different and Pepsi is here to get you ready for game day no matter how you watch this season. Pepsi is the refreshment you need to power through game day and become a member of the League of Football Watchers. These passionate

fans are the real generational talent that Pepsi fuels. Because Pepsi isn't made for those who play the game, it's made for those who watch it. Pepsi, made for football watching. Greetings and salutations, Patriots Nation. It is almost game day, but not quite yet. Your New England Patriots get the Monday Nighter in Week 9,

a Monday night football matchup with the 0-8 New York Jets. 8.30 p.m. on ESPN, MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, has both the third and fourth place teams in the AFC East do battle. And I know, it still feels really weird to say that the Patriots are among the last two teams in the division. But right now, that's the reality. Can the Patriots pull out of it? Well, they were back on the practice fields on Thursday, and I'll get to that in just a moment. But as I said to close out yesterday's Crossover Thursday episode,

Fridays are usually reserved for game preview episodes. After all, the Patriots are usually playing sometime on Sunday. This being a Monday nighter, our Locked On Patriots game preview will come at you on Monday, so keep a sharp eye out for that. But that being said, you really didn't think I was going to send you into the weekend without closing out the week in style here on the Locked On Patriots podcast? Definitely not. As a special treat to carry you into the weekend, my good friend, the great and powerful Wizard

of Benzón himself, the Pats Cat, Miguel Benzón, will join me here today on the hot seat, and Miguel and I will discuss Foxborough finances. Miguel will explain why the whole Bill Belichick we sold out controversial comment wasn't an excuse at all. We'll also gaze into our Belichickian crystal ball and Miguel will give his prognostication on what the Patriots 2021 cap situation may look like. And of course, last but certainly not least, in a segment unique to Locked On Patriots, Miguel takes the opportunity to set the Patriots cap record straight and drop a few pearls of financial wisdom that you'll hear here and only here on Locked on Patriots.

Folks, I know Miguel is one of your favorite guests. He's one of mine, too. I'm always honored and humbled when he drops by the pod, and our conversation today will fill you with more than enough financial knowledge to carry you throughout the rest of the season in Foxborough. So sit tight, settle in, get your notebooks out, because you'll definitely want to keep tabs on anything and everything Miguel has to say today when he joins me here on the

hot seat in just a moment. But first, as the Patriots start to prep for Monday night's game against the Jets, they were back on the practice fields adjacent to Gillette Stadium on Thursday and the post practice injury and participation report read like a roster in and of itself. Five players did not participate in Thursday's practice, and a laundry list of those that were limited. Those that were absent from the practice fields on Thursday included defensive tackle Carl Davis and wide receiver Nakiel Harry, still both out in concussion protocol.

J.J. Taylor did not participate in Thursday's practice as a result of an illness. Stephon Gilmore, still absent from the practice fields with a knee injury. And of course, Lawrence Guy, the defensive tackle, injured in-game on Sunday against the Bills, absent from practice, and listed with shoulder, elbow, and knee injuries. What this means for Monday night's game is still unclear, but the fact that none of these players were on the practice field is certainly not a good sign for their participation in Monday night's game. I'll continue to monitor the Patriots' injury reports throughout the weekend, and of course,

here on Monday morning, we'll bring you the very latest on Locked on Patriots. As for those that were on the practice fields on Thursday but limited in participation, 12 names, folks. That's right, 12. Yikes. Starting with Juwan Bentley at the linebacker position, limited with a groin injury, Shaliqua Calhoun with a knee injury. Kyle Duggar continues to be hampered with an ankle injury,

as does Damian Harris listed with an ankle injury as well. Ryan Izzo was listed with a hamstring injury. JC Jackson with a knee injury. Tight end Dalton Keene listed with a knee injury. Don't forget it was that knee that kept him out of Sunday's game against the Buffalo Bills. We saw him try to warm up before the game, and the Patriots ended up making him a scratch. Shaq Mason listed with a calf injury, John Simon with an elbow, Joe Tooney continues to be hampered a little bit by the ankle injury,

Isaiah Wynn with an ankle injury, and Dietrich Wise Jr. listed with two injuries, one to his knee and one to his hand. Obviously, that's a long list of walking wounded, folks. Best guess is that most of those players will end up suiting up on Monday night. However, be sure to keep a sharp eye on Friday night's injury report and any further information that circulates throughout the weekend when it comes to the Patriots' injuries. The Jets may be 0-8, but there's still a lot of talent on both sides of the ball, and at 2-5, the Patriots are facing an absolute must-win

in order to salvage some hope for their season. Translation, they're going to want as many healthy bodies available for Monday night as possible. But the injury news wasn't all bad yesterday, folks. One of the Patriots' more prominent offensive players was back on the practice field, apparently activated from injured reserve, and that's running back Sonny Michel. Sonny has been on the injured reserve list since October 5th. His presence now means that the Patriots have a 21-day window to either activate him to the 53-man roster, or if they don't, Sony will revert back to injured reserve. And even though I know that Sony has been left

out in the proverbial wilderness by some of the media and some of the fan base, Sony was still having a pretty solid year up until he went on injured reserve. Ran for 173 yards to go with one touchdown. The last game he played against the Las Vegas Raiders, he ran for 117 yards in that game. So, Sonny's return can only be a good thing for the New England Patriots. Adding him into the mix with Damian Harris, Rex Burkhead, James White, even J.J. Taylor sprinkled in, all of a sudden you're looking at a very formidable running attack. In any case, it's great to see Sonny back on the field, but I wouldn't quite expect him to be activated for Monday night's game.

I think the Patriots are going to take a wait-and-see approach and at least give Sonny a little more time to get his legs back under him. Another question that I've been getting quite a bit is, can we expect to see newcomers Isaiah Ford and Isaiah Mack on the field? That's a no on both, but not because these players don't want to be on the field or that the Patriots are taking a wait-and-see approach. Both Ford and Mack are still undergoing COVID-19 protocol and as a result won't be available for Monday's game against the Jets.

But those that are eligible to play and those that are healthy enough to participate will return to the practice fields both today on Friday and tomorrow on Saturday. So again, keep a sharp eye out on the latest news notes and analysis from Foxborough. I'll keep you updated on Twitter throughout the weekend. And of course, I'll bring you the very latest on the New England Patriots and their Monday night football matchup with the Jets here on Monday's game preview episode of the Locked on Patriots podcast. But the bottom line is, it's time to talk the Patriots bottom line. And to do so, I will be bringing in our financial guru, the great and powerful

Wizard of Benz on the Pats cap. Miguel Benz on will join me here on the hot seat to talk anything and everything when it relates to Foxborough Finance, when the Lockdown Patriots podcast continues. But first, Lockdown listeners, we all know that the 2020 football season has been different and will continue to be different. And Pepsi is here to get you ready for game day no matter how you watch this season. I know, you miss the in-person roar of the crowd, the sights and sounds of tailgating, but that doesn't mean that you still can't have the best seat in the house, your comfortable clothes, your favorite cushy chair or sofa, the sharpest high-res images on your very own TV, your favorite delicious snacks, and of course, Pepsi, which is the refreshment you need to power through game day

and become a member of the League of Football Watchers. These passionate fans are the real generational talent that Pepsi fuels. Because Pepsi isn't made for those who play the game, it's made for those who watch it. Go to madeforfootballwatching.com to check out the latest football watching content from Pepsi. Pepsi, made for football watching. Patriots fans, the Pats are set to take on the New York Jets on Monday Night Football,

8.30 p.m. Eastern at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. And while that might be the story of the week, the finances of your New England Patriots continue to be the hot topic in and around Foxborough. And when it comes to the Patriots' bottom line, it's time to talk business. New England Patriots business. We need the definitive word on any and all things Patriots salary cap. And to do so, we seek the wisdom and counsel of the great and powerful Wizard of Benzahn. You know him as the Pats cap. He is my good friend. Miguel Benzahn joins me here

today on the podcast. Welcome back to Locked On Patriots, my friend, and thank you so much for joining me to close the week in style. Oh, my God. It's always an honor. I love coming on. I love the intros. I even like the whole music now. Yeah, for those of you that don't know here,

the whole music here for Locked On Patriots is a little Rick Astley, never going to give you up. You know, buddy, he's a perfect, he really would be. We're talking, right now we're in the midst of a difficult election and the results and everything, tabulations. How about Rick Astley for president? I mean, come on. He's never going to give you up. He's never going to let you down. Never going to tell a lie.

Never going to give you up. He's never going to let you down. Never going to tell a lie. Never going to make you cry. These are campaign promises that really should be on the forefront of every single candidate. That's it. Next year, 2024, Rick Astley. I'm voting for him. There we go. Is he American? No, he's not. He can't run for president. Okay, so he can't be president. He's actually, I believe he's British. So yeah, that would be.

But he's still, we should change the law. No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. No, no, no. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, my gosh. You know, buddy, I use the term best in the business to describe you. That's never an exaggeration.

Whenever I have a question on the salary cap, you're my first source. You're my only one. So let's get down to it, my friend. Let's get down to the new women patriots financial business and as we speak your calculations show the patriots as having 21 million 702 thousand 141 dollars in available cap space yeah now miguel earlier this week the patriots made some minor moves at the trade deadline the most notable being the trade for isaiah ford not a lot of movements in the patriots salary cap as a result,

but it was pretty revealing earlier this week when Bill Belichick actually spoke pretty candidly on the Patriots' finances, explaining that the Pats' lack of cap flexibility, as well as the opt-outs, might actually be the best possible explanation for why they're starting 2-5. And Miguel, this is about as candid as we've seen Bill Belichick on this subject, especially when he acknowledges that they've had to adjust their cap from the spending that they've had and I'm using Bill's words here in accumulation of prior years basically indicating that the money we've spent before folks is essentially coming back to hurt us this year

and we're assuming that he means the pre-COVID opt-outs because the Patriots, again, have about $21 million, approximately more than that, in cap space. It may sound like a lot, but at the time that the free agency waves were beginning, the Patriots were pretty strapped up against the cap. In your expert opinion, my friend, was the Patriots' offseason financial difficulty to blame for their lack of depth this year? Okay, so let's talk about the – he got two comments going. The first thing was he's answering Charlie Weiss' comments about why they're playing younger players. All right? And then there's a combination of reasons.

You know, he talked about the COVID, the players they – you know, the COVID injuries, you know, the typical that they already have, the injuries, like they already got 10 players on IR this year. You had Brendan King on PUP, you know what I'm saying? And then you had, you know, you talked about that. And then people started to say, geez, he's making an excuse for this. I get what – I agree with Bill that all those combinations

reason why they're playing the young players. Some people are now taking it as he's making an excuse from them for being a 2-5, and he's using the cap for being a 2-5. I don't agree with that interpretation. But I don't agree with his words of saying that they sold out either. I've never, if you've been following me for five, anybody who's been following me for the last, since 2014,

when they won the first Super Bowl in this decade, all right, I've never said the Patriots went all in any year. All right? And I'm saying, so I don't think they sold out. They did spend some money last year, more money than spent over like $200 million more than the cap was. All right? I get, I don't think they sold out.

I think what they combination, they chose, they made a decision with an older quarterback to get to go with older people. To give them an advantage when you're in a matchup team. Alright? So they made some decisions. Like before, for the first part of the new CBA started in 2011. Alright? And then

we went to 2020. Maybe from 2011 to 2016, the Patriots never pushed money out to the future, except one time with Gerard Mayo. 2014, they started doing it. They did it with Brady

a couple times. They did it with Gilmore. You know what I'm saying? They started pushing some money out, all right? So the team decided to make, hey, we got Brady. We don't know how long he's going to play at an elite level. We might as well just try to win as many Super Bowls with him, and let's do it. So the Patriots have been an older team, all right?

And it cracks me up, folks, that people who are complaining about the Patriots getting, being old, all right? The Patriots are doing this, doing that, don't give, it happens, all right? So, like, they literally have won six Super Bowls in 20 years, all right? And people are complaining. I wouldn't have said the word sold out. I said we won three Super Bowls in five years. We might be, you know, saying we can't every year win the Super Bowl.

No one does that, all right? Maybe that's what I would have said because I would have been closer to the mark, all right? But I understand where he's coming from. But, like, literally the Patriots are in great shape for next year, all right? For, like, the 2021. I know we're going to talk about the 2021 a little bit later. I get what he says. I want to use sold out.

I want to say they want I've never said listen to me. I want to be consistent. I'm not going to be a hypocrite and I'm not going to be disingenuous like some of the beat writers who are killing Bill right now. All right. Like, for example, there's a there was a thing about how much cash they spent over the last 10 years. All right? But they don't tell you how much cap space the Patriots ended each year with. All right? And they don't tell you that the Patriots, each team can carry over cap space. The average cap space the team's carried over was like about $8.4 million.

The Patriots have averaged $4.2 million. And you don't even have to take my word for this, folks. You can just go to the NFL public salary page and see that for this year. The average team last year carried over about $11 million in cap space since 2020. The Patriots carried $3.5 million. All right? And that's been true.

Patriots might not be, have never been, and I said this on Twitter before, they have never consistently been in cash spending. But they always end up with a little less than one of the lowest teams with capped space. And why

is that, folks? Because they use incentives, all right? So if you give somebody a player an incentive, all right, for example, remember the year they gave Brady $5 million in incentives, all right, and that counted against the cap, all right? He didn't get, so that's $5 million that you couldn't use of cap space. No cash, but not by cap space that you couldn't use to get a player. But because he didn't earn it, the Patriots didn't actually spend any cash. So they lost $5 million in cap space without spending any cash.

But that chart that's out there doesn't tell you that. And that's disingenuous. That's lacking context. And I'm standing up because I'm fired up now. And we love a fired up McGill. I'm sorry. No, please, please, go ahead. Okay. No, so I get what you're saying. Okay, that's what I got to say about this. I don't think I can say that he's saying the cap space. I don't think he said that the cap space is an excuse.

I think that's people's interpretations of it. The Patriots made the decision early in the beginning of the year, every decision you make affects the cap. They decided to tag Joe Tooney. That took up about $50 million in cap space. They decided to extend Devin McCourty. They didn't do anything with Dante Hightower before he opted out of contract. Okay? So those three things tell me that the Patriots are going to try to build this team around the O-line and the defense. And I said, and that makes sense to me, and I'll say why.

They're in a division with the Dolphins, the Jets, and the Bills. Okay, and I'll say this at the beginning. I think I might have said this on an earlier podcast. I don't think Josh Allen's any good. I said that before. I thought before the season I didn't think he was any good. I wasn't worried about him. He's played way better than I thought.

Okay? But if you thought that Josh, that you could, I think the Patriots think they could still win the division this year and then come into next year with about, before COVID, they would have had about $100 million in cap space. Now it's going to be about $60 million in cap space. So they could have won the division this year, get to next year, be one of the league leaders in cap space, and have about 10 draft picks.

Because I don't think it's a coincidence that they didn't sign any high draft picks because they're going to get a third-round comp pick for Tom Brady. They're going to get two fourths for Jamie Collins and Kyle Van Noy. I don't think it's a coincidence. You know what I'm saying? That they didn't spend any money because to help protect those draft picks. They did what they always do, sign small, middle-class people. All right?

And it's the thing the other people don't want to admit is that the Patriots have kept on doing what they've been doing, is having a strong middle class. They still have over – I should have looked it up before this call. They still have a lot of people have looked it up before this call. They still have a lot of people with a $1 million cap hit. All throughout the Bill Belichick era, they've led the league with players with $1 million cap hit.

They believe in a strong roster from top to bottom. So, I want to get off my spiel now. I need to take a breath. Hold on. Absolutely. By all means, my friend. And you know what? And I think that you do make some very interesting points. The point that I really want to take home and the point that I think is so important for people to realize is the difference between cap spending, the difference between cap space and how you eloquently put that incentives

are a big portion of that. That's something that's not talked about, I think, nearly often enough. And I think you outlined it very, very nicely. You definitely helped educate me a little bit more on that. And I think definitely our listeners as well. And I appreciate the information that you bring to the table. Staying on that subject for just a moment, because you did allude to 2021. So while we're on the subject why don't

we delve into that um bill also has been hinting lately that the patriots may be looking to accumulate as much cap space as they can for the offseason i don't think that's really a revelation i think that's really the truth of any teams but the patriots this year might be in a pretty good position to do that more so than they have in years past. Buddy, I know it's early, but how do you see the Patriots' 2021 cap shaking out, and how might they get there? Okay, so right now, let's pretend that before any cut, any trade, any restructures, anything, all right, that happens all the time. If right now, as of today, I think I'm going to have them

send in the 2021, but I'm a $59.5 million in cap space. And I'll say this. That's because I'm tracking. I'm the only person I know this, outside of the Patriots, who track their incentives. Like Ben Volan does it at the end of the year. I do it every week.

The last time I got a $5 million credit, it's less than that now, a $5 million deficit because now Julian's not going to get his incentives. Now if you think that the Patriots are not going to make the playoffs, that is Cam Newton's going to lose out about $1.5 million. I thought he was going to get those incentives. And then you have players like Bo Allen. You're going to get credits for that. So there's about $59.5 million.

That's before we cut anyone, trade anyone. That's before we do anything. And I still think Marcus Cannon's going to retire. All right? I don't follow any players on Instagram. But I swear, I bet that the next time we see Marcus Cannon, he's going to be a lot slimmer than he was when he was on the Patriots.

And I see that as guarantees me that he's going to retire. And somebody keeps on asking me about the eight opt-outs. If they cut the eight opt-outs right before March, before the start of 2002, that's going to

create about $15 million in cap space. You know what I'm saying? So that's 75. And that 75, that puts you, Patriots right now, in the top four in cap space for 2000. And folks, the cap, the 2001 income cap is going to drop. The owners in the NFL know it's going to drop. They agree that it won't be any lower than $175 million, which is a drop from this year's cap is $198.2 million.

If there was no COVID, the 2021 cap would have probably been $215 million. We're talking about a $40 million drop. All right? And I don't know. You know, the thing with Bill saying, I don't know how Bill would have known in February or March that you guys would have dropped out.

I personally would have been, if I was him, I would have been mad that Patrick Chung opted out after I gave him a bonus, a $3 million bonus. You know what I'm saying? Okay. But, all right. So the cap is going to go down to 175. All right.

The Patriots are going to be compared. So some teams are going to have to cut some players to get underneath the cap. All right. And they're going to have to. So the Patriots are going to be able to sign these players in February and March before the league year starts to less money than they probably would have gotten if the cap was $215 million. So maybe you could sign a player who should have probably get $5 million

to $6 million for $2 million to $3 million. All right? That's right in the Patriots' wheelhouse. You know what I'm saying? So the Patriots are going to have an advantage that way. All right? They're also going to have an advantage because in the draft, they have 10 draft picks.

The average team has eight. All right? They're going to have, and it's for them. It's relatively easy for them to create cap space next year. There's only one player. Well, there's one significant player that I said that would cost them cap space if it was cut before in March, and that would be Patrick Chung. He would cost us about $1.7 million in cap space.

All right? Other than that, everybody else, you can create cap space with Stefan Gilmore, Shaq Mason. You know what I'm saying? There's some deals you can do to lower their cap number. I mean, Julian's cap number, right, is his number dropped by $2.5 million because he's not going to have all of his centers. It's going to be considered not likely to be earned this year. All right? Right.

And so same thing with Bo Allen. His cap number dropped by $900,000 because all of his active roster bonuses for next year will be not likely to be earned. All right? So the Patriots can easily create cap space. They'll be able to sign the cut players. I'll say this, folks.

The top, the great elite players are still going to get paid. And we've seen this with the extensions that's happened this year. You know what I'm saying? Keenan Allen, some defensive guys, now I'm losing my mind, just a big deal. Jalen Ramsey, White, those guys, the elite players are still going to get paid. It's the guys in the middle class who are going to have to drop their price

if they still want to play in the NFL. Because those guys are going to be cut left and right. Because those are easy cuts for teams who are going to be over the NFL. Because those guys are going to be cut left and right. Because those are easy cuts for teams who are going to be over the cap. So do you want to talk about specific players for 2021? Alright, well let's start with the obvious. We'll start with Cam Newton. Obviously a lot of people are wondering what type of deal may look like in the offseason

if they're going to be able to bring him back. There are rumors going around that the Patriots may choose to walk away from Cam. They may want to take a look at Jimmy. Who knows? I mean, I'm not asking you to kind of delve into some of the rumors about personnel because it's very difficult, especially at this stage of the game. But if the Patriots were looking to bring back Cam, are they better off doing that in season, or should they wait now until the end of the season

now that the trade deadline has gone fast? Oh, they should wait until the end of the season. See what you have. See what you have on the man. And I said this before in a prior podcast. I said that they shouldn't extend him until they made the playoffs. So wait until the end of the season to see what you have. And if you like what you have, the best thing for the Patriots,

and they have this cap space, and so you can tag him. It could be relatively cheap to tag. He's only going to be for a quarterback about $25 million to tag next year. All right? That goes a lot of that cap space, but then you can work with him to lower that cap on a long time during the low of that number. All right? Would they sign Cam Newton? You've got to see more out of him.

I thought, you know what I'm saying? I listened to Mark Schofield, and he was dead – he was just spot on. He was talking about his footwork and stuff like that. He's got to fix that footwork thing that was i mean folks what mark was when was mount goes on if you want to listen to good quarterback and what was the problems of what cam moon is that listen to that podcast with mark he just in the last couple of weeks he's talking about the how the hips and all that thing i'm like wow yeah it was last friday, and Mark is always spot on when it comes to that. Yeah, so listen, folks, I highly recommend listening to that show.

And you've got to wait to see what you have in them. The good thing is the Patriots have a lot of cap space next year. The bad thing is the only quarterback that signed is Stidham. So that's the flip side of having a lot of cap space. Not every, but that's one downside. They need to get a starting quarterback. All right? If you think that Cam Newton is it, then you sign him.

And I said this before, it's always better to sign a player early than later, even with the cap space, even with the cap space decreasing. Because one reason if you sign him in 2020, and even if you sign him in the last, right before the Saturday, before the Week 17 game, all right, and you give him a $20 million signing bonus, $4 million of that will count against the cap against 2020. All right? So when, let's just say in 2023 the cap against 2020. All right?

So when, let's just say in 2023, you cut him. All right? That's less dead money you would have had if you signed him extended. The first deal was in 2021. That's the advantage of signing a player early in 2020 as opposed to 2021. Excellent. And exactly what we were looking for. I guess the next player would be in line,

would be on the defensive side of the ball. And obviously, Stephon Gilmore is still a member of this New England Patriots team. We hear about the cap hit. We hear about if they release him, if they trade him, what type of cap advantage will the Patriots get, any type of relief or any type of hit that they'll take for either having Gilmore on the roster or not on the roster next year Miguel which is more beneficial from a financial perspective and what do you expect the Patriots to do with Gilmore in the offseason I I think they are going to extend J.C. Jackson and trade Gilmore the first day of the league year.

And that, to me, makes sense. Because if you're going to pay someone near the top of the cornerback market, I'd rather go with the much younger guy than the guy who's going to turn 30, who's 30 to turn 30, who's 30 years old now. All right. Okay. And so I know that you could say, I agree.

If you want to tell me, I'm not arguing that Stefan Gummer isn't better than J.C. Jackson. I'm just saying three years from now, who's going to be the better player? The odds are it's going to be J.C. Jackson. Two years from now, the odds are it's going to be J.C. Jackson. Two years from now, the odds are it's going to be J.C. Jackson. Four years from now, the odds are it's going to be J.C. Jackson. That's what I would do. I see, I understand if they want to extend the deal, then I could see it.

I wouldn't go long-term with him. I wouldn't go five years. If he wants to add a couple more years to his deal, then I would do it. And that's the flip side of what they did of moving 2021 cash into 2020. It makes it easier for them to – because the big thing, folks, and I just want to go over some background. Agents in the front office always talk about when they're looking at deals, they're talking about new money.

All right? So right now, Stefan Gilmore is going to be doing $7.5 million in new money in 2021. All right? So let's say you want to give him a deal that pays him, gives him a $15 million API. All right? For two years. All right? That's $15 million API, all right, for two years, all right? That's $30 million plus the 30. So in three years, you want to give him $37.5 million over three years, all right?

If his salary was $11 million and you still wanted to give him the $15 million API, all right, that's going to be $41 million over three years. All right? So the Patriots can now can reach that API figure and end up spending less cash over three years because they moved the money up from 2021 into 2020. That was the – I should – I swear. This is like – this is the thing, folks.

I'm not going to probably say this on Twitter for a while, okay? I might not say this again until February. I might not say this until February on Twitter. Like this is like a thing I'm just going to be for only the listeners of the podcast. All right? This thing, I'll tell you right now, I bet that the guys who criticized Bill Belichick and Nick Casario for being a GM, I'm not going to point this out. So Ben and Greg and Tom, you guys aren't going to point this out. All right? Ben Volan, Greg Goddard, Tom Garvin, I know you guys aren't going to point this out. Ben Volan, Greg Goddard, Tom Garvin,

I know you guys aren't going to point this out. Alright? Alright. So that's what I think is going to happen. I think that J.C. Jackson is going to sign an extension because he's going to get the tender him in the first round level is going to be

about $5 million. So you might, you know, so that's I can't imagine that they're going to give him a second round tender because they gave Malcolm Butler a first round tender. And I think that you could say that JC Jackson has probably played better in his first three years than Malcolm Butler did. And I'm a big, huge Malcolm Butler fan. So for me to say that, okay. No, it's true. I really do. I think we all are

when it comes to Malcolm Butler and the contributions that he made, especially Super Bowl XLIX alone. But your spot on J.C. Jackson, I think, has been their best defensive player this year. And if you're looking at a cheaper alternative and an opportunity to grow with a player, it makes perfect sense to go with Jackson

and to see what you can get for Gilmore. I think they made the right move by not dealing him at the deadline, but I think in the offseason, I know all bets are off, and I do agree with you. Yeah. I don't think anybody's going to pay. The thing is, you had to get a big – you had to give up a lot to get them and then also pay them.

Exactly. Because – and Bill O'Brien is no longer in the league. So that's – I didn't think that was going to happen. Sorry. So well said. Yeah, sorry. So well said. I think it is.

And again, folks, this is why Miguel is on that very short list to be in the best of the best of all things salary cap. The wit and the combination of just knowledge and everything that he brings to the table. That's why I call you the Pat's Cap Top Gun, buddy. You're the best of the best. And in a segment that is very unique to Locked On Patriots, Miguel always addresses some of those cap myths floating around, and he tends to set

the record straight from time to time. He's already done so in a lot of cases this week, but I'm going to put him on the hot seat in just a moment. Do not miss this segment next when the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. Folks, again, Miguel Benzana, the Pats cap himself, joins me here on the Locked On Patriots podcast. And once again, folks, insight you can only find here on Lockdown Patriots. Miguel, you've eloquently broken down a potential Patriots offseason cap when fall tried to interpret Bill Belichick's comments, which I assure you, my friend, is no easy task.

But one of my favorite parts of having you join me here on the pod is your ability to identify some of the erroneous cap reports out there. And in your infinite wisdom, you either confirm them or you debunk them. You also have a tendency to drop some exclusive pearls of wisdom that can be found here only on Locked On Patriots. Buddy, I can't think of a better way to end the week than to close out Locked On Patriots this week in style. The floor is yours. Speak to your adoring public and set the record straight, my friend. Okay. So the Patriots are in great shape.

Not great, but good to great shape for 2021. All right. Let's just talk about, I thought about this when I was raking the leaves. What happened in 2017? So let's just talk about, I thought about this when I was raking the leaves. What happened in 2017? You know, it was actually 2016. The Patriots beat the Falcons in the Super Bowl. The GM and the coach got three and a half years.

And they got fired this year. People want to give it a Bill after one bad year. All right? That just blows my mind. And the Falcons went to the Super Bowl. They didn't win it. Went to the Super Bowl. Patriots won six.

And then three more. And then won three more. And people want to get rid of Bill Belichick. Like somebody said they want to trade Bill Belichick. All right? 2017, the Patriots lost the Super Bowl to the Eagles. All right? Patriots next year are going to have a lot of cap space.

The Eagles are going to have to make some moves to get under the cap. All right? So they lost the Super Bowl to the Eagles. Next year they win the Super Bowl, and next year they're going to be better cap shape. Who would you rather be, a fan of the Eagles or a fan of the Patriots going forward? It's like they may be – and you say, oh, they got a quarterback in Carson Wentz. All right?

Okay, I don't think Carson Wentz is that good. Okay, so if you think he's an elite quarterback, then you and I just disagree on that. I don't think he's that good. All right? So that's my thing about the spiel about that. Let's talk about just cap tidbits. People get paid for seven. Three things I want to get out of it. I still can't believe this happens.

A, one, players get paid for 17 weeks. All right? Two, the players on practice squad players get paid. People who go on injured reserve get paid. Next year, the cap is going to be kind of crazy. Because I don't know in March of 2021 what the NFL is going to say about COVID. The rules they have in place this year, like the three-week thing, the IR thing, if they still have COVID in the fall, that's going to be back. So you're going to need to have the cap space because folks, while people like to have that three week IR rule, it's taking up cap space because you're replacing players left and right. And the other thing is that the Patriots have, it's easy for them to make going forward.

Because they have, for example, next year, they only have very little guaranteed money on their cap. And by guaranteed money, I'm talking about signing bonus per ration. All right? Now I'm talking about guaranteed salary. No matter what, Stephon Gilmore is going to count at least $8.9 million on the cap because that's his signing per ration for the thing on his deal. All right? So the Patriots have a lot more flexibility than most teams. $38 million in just signing, but no matter what,

they're going to have to have at least that. And they have very few players next year who have guaranteed salary. And they are basically Shaq Mason, who's got a little bit of his deal salary guaranteed. Isaiah Wynn, who's got his salary guaranteed. Isaiah Wynn who's got his salary guaranteed. Sonny Michel, Neil Kilharry, Kyle Duggar, and Josh Uche. Because folks,

first round and second round picks, their first two year salaries are usually guaranteed. What other things? That thing, but that cash thing, really blew me away because it's not reflective of how the patrons do their business. All right.

And I'll say this. If you wanted to – I've never seen – I've been doing the covering the cap since 2000. I've never seen a strong correlation between cash spending and winning. And I'll say this. The patrons never – I hate to repeat myself, but the Patriots really have never really spent a lot of cash. All right? If you want to say that.

But I don't know. Folks, if you could tell me off the top of their head who spent the most cash money since 2014, God bless you. All right? God bless you. If you could tell me who drafted the best since 2014, God bless you. All right? God bless you. If you could tell me who drafted the best since 2014, God bless you. All I know is the Patriots won three Super Bowls. Okay?

That's all I got. It's about winning, folks. Okay? And that's what they've done. And they have – every other team has probably reset their cap at least once during the Bill Belichick area. At least once. All right?

Now people are going, oh, 2020, and they're resetting their cap, and people are getting upset. It happens. I was like, I didn't think that, you know, I thought at the beginning of the year they'd make it to the playoffs. I was like, I said before, I thought the Patriots would be one of the teams that would be able to take advantage of the COVID because I thought they would, because they lived in Massachusetts with our great hospitals and they had three players married to doctors, they wouldn't have any COVID things.

I was dead wrong about that. You know what I'm saying? Dead wrong. I never, you know what I'm saying? There's no way they could win. If you can't practice, you can't win. Right. All right.

But that's what I got to say. No. And you know what, bud? You always, you lend the wisdom and counsel the way only you can. You never disappoint. Whenever you grace the airwaves here on Locked on Patriots, I could not be more honored. I could not be more humbled. I thank you again for dropping those pearls of wisdom,

your wisdom and counsel. Folks, Miguel at Patscap on Twitter is one of the best follows you'll ever be able to find on social media anywhere, especially when it comes to the Patriots salary cap, NFL salary cap. I call him the top gun. He is the top gun. The plaque for the alternates, it doesn't exist. I say it every time he's on, and I can't say it enough.

He has no equal. My friend, thank you so much for joining me today. Please stay safe, stay well. We look forward to having you back on here on the pod very soon. Anytime financial news breaks, we know where to find you. And you're always, like I said, the best source of knowledge that is out there and the only one I need, my friend. Okay, I don't think, Mike, there's going to be any breaking news

in the rest of the year. I don't think that – I was dead wrong. I said before they would extend two players, and I think Bills has made it clear that they're not extending anyone during the season. I did wrong a lot. So I was like, okay. But I just want folks, follow me on Twitter, and if you find my work

and the tweets, anything, I'm trying to raise money for the Harvard Habitat of Humanity. So if you want to go on the site, it's called app.mobile cause.com slash F slash F. That's my

pinned tweet. I'm just trying to, you know what I'm saying? $10, $5, you know what I'm saying? I thought I could get 6,000 people to donate $20. All right, so I think a $20 average donation. I'm averaging over $90. All right, let's get that average down. Let's donate more, and let's get more $10 donations.

All right. Thank you so much for your time. Anytime. Absolutely, my friend. And once again, the Hartford Habitat is the cause that Miguel was speaking of. App.mobilecause.com slash VF slash Pat's Cap. Definitely anything and everything will help, especially at this time of year. This man does amazing work,

and he's always giving back to his community. And again, buddy, it's my true honor to have you on here on Locked On Patriots. But I've said this many times, my greatest honor is being able to call you a friend, and I mean that sincerely. Have a great weekend. Have a great night.

Enjoy the Monday night game coming up against the Jets. And I look forward to talking ball with you again soon here on Locked On Patriots, bud. Take care, everyone. God bless and stay safe. And so, Patriots fans, we put a bow on the week that was here on the Locked On Patriots podcast. And seeing that your New England Patriots will be taking center stage on Monday night football to take on the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets.

We will be back on Monday to bring you the latest news notes and analysis from Foxborough, and of course, to provide a preview and prediction for this Week 9 AFC Divisional Showdown on Monday night. So, to ensure that you do not miss one single second of the action, make sure to download Locked On Patriots wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and subscribe to us on platforms such as Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. Just make sure that you're staying locked in to Locked On Patriots.

Once again, my name is Mike DeBate. I thank my good friend the Pats cap himself, Miguel Benzon, for his time, his insight, and his appearance on today's pod. But most of all, I thank you so much for listening and for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. Until Monday, folks, stay safe, stay well, continue to be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great weekend, everyone.