Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - Standing Pat: New England Patriots and the 2022 NFL Trade Deadline

Episode Date: November 2, 2022

For the second straight season, the New England Patriots refrained from making a move at the 2022 NFL Trade Deadline. As a result, receivers Nelson Agholor, Kendrick Bourne and offensive lineman Isaia...h Wynn (among others) will remain in New England at least through the remainder of the season. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Miguel ‘PatsCap’ Benzan to break down the financial reasoning for the Pats inactivity and what it means for the team in 2023.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/id1140512627 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1c5ZxFmwg3WbfxAU3tR5Ve?si=k196wH-yRqifUcQQz8SjIQStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-patriots And follow host Mike D’Abate on Twitter, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the New England Patriots and talking with fans.On Twitter: @mdabateNFLSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFLBuilt 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.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!PrizePicksFirst time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDONSimpliSafeWith Fast Protect™️ Technology, exclusively from SimpliSafe, 24/7 monitoring agents capture evidence to accurately verify a threat for faster police response. There’s No Safe Like SimpliSafe. Visit SimpliSafe.com/LockedOnNFL to learn more.BlueNileMake your moment sparkle with Blue Nile. Go to BlueNile.com and use code lockedon to save fifty dollars on your purchase of five-hundred dollars or more.BetterHelpThis episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at Betterhelp.com/LockedOn and get on your way to being your best self. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Why, oh, why did the New England Patriots stand pat for the second straight year on the trade deadline? Well, as you can see from my guest today, finances might have had a little bit to do with it. So Lynn, you're about to be locked in to the Locked On Patriots podcast. You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.
Starting point is 00:00:48 Hello to all of you, Foxborough fans. No, I lost. And thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots also your first listen every day. Remember, Locked On Patriots is free and available on all platforms, including YouTube. So smash that subscribe button, download, subscribe to, and follow Locked On Patriots wherever you get your podcasts. Folks, it is trade deadline day, and that can mean only one thing.
Starting point is 00:01:15 Foxborough Finance factoring into a lot of the decisions coming out of the corporate headquarters in Foxborough today. And we will get to all of the finances in just a moment with my esteemed guest, Miguel the Pats Cat Benzon himself. But first, folks, remember today's episode of Locked On Patriots is presented by Prize Picks. Prize Picks is daily fantasy made easy. You pick two to five players, and if they score more or less than their Prize Picks
Starting point is 00:01:39 projection, you can win up to 10 times your money on your entry. First time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with the promo code locked on. That's pricefix.com, promo code locked on. Folks, for the second straight year, your New England Patriots did not make a move at the trade deadline. Several other teams in the NFL did, including a couple of key division rivals. And ultimately, Miguel, these matters all come down to finance. And that is why we have brought in the salary cap top gun, the only man that can possibly navigate us through the Patriots' decisions today.
Starting point is 00:02:20 He is my good friend. Miguel Patskat Benzon joins me today. Miguel, welcome back to the Lockdown Patriots podcast. Always a pleasure being here, Mike. Always an honor to be on the show. Love being on the show. Love listening to the show. You have great guests. Folks, I apologize for wearing the red long t-shirt in honor of Matthew Judon. I'm looking at it
Starting point is 00:02:46 and boy, this shirt is red on the TV. You know what? It's perfect. Because a lot of New England Patriots fans right now, Miguel, are seeing red as the 4 p.m. trade deadline has eclipsed. New England right now,
Starting point is 00:03:02 they're not too happy seeing, obviously, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins making moves. We're going to get into those moves in just a moment. But, Miguel, obviously, the Patriots' standing pat is not something that I think should come as a shock to most Patriots fans. Look, folks, there's a lot of reasons why New England did that. Miguel's going to get into the finances of it in just a moment. Logistically, New England right now is looking at commodities that probably would not have fetched a whole lot in terms of draft capital get into the finances of it in just a moment. Logistically, New England right now is looking at commodities that probably would not have fetched a whole lot in terms of draft capital
Starting point is 00:03:29 or readily available NFL talent that was coming back. So in that regard, you're selling off pieces for small returns. But ultimately, the New England Patriots are always going to keep an eye on the finance level of this. And Miguel, that is where you come in my friend bottom line in your expert opinion when you look at the Patriots and their lack of doing moves today was it the right move financially I think so Mike and I'll say this I think well let's remember those Patriots already traded away several players during the offseason all right from Shaq Mason Chase Winovich Jared Stid justin haran and i'm forgetting something to kill harry you know so everybody made some player trades um they were let's just say
Starting point is 00:04:14 there were seven players pictures named as possible trade targets all right the value for the some of these players was not gonna be worth getting rid of them for example damian harris all right you need as well as romano's users playing just in case he gets hurt you need depth on the running back position all right right jabril peppers his deal is so good for the patriots why trade him away all right ditto for kendrick bourne. All right? He just traded for Devante Parker. So in order to get, if you want to trade him away, you want to get back at least the same deal. All right? But his money, his cap number this year and next year,
Starting point is 00:04:56 for what he can do is tremendous value. All right? Then we have the two players who I thought they could have been in the mix of training is Isaiah Wynn and Nelson Aguilar. All right. Those had big cap numbers, still had even though it was almost there's only 10 weeks left. So eight weeks of the salary has been already paid by the agents. A new team, another team would have to pay them 10 weeks of salary over five million dollars all right that limits how many teams could have a platform and the value wasn't just there i mean for nelson aguilar i would think it was the value
Starting point is 00:05:38 wasn't there because i think if they trade doesn't that go the pitchers want to make it worth the other teams while they really feel therefore they weren't going to save that much money. The Bears could have wanted to eat money, all right, on when they traded away Quinn and when they tried to rock Juan Smith. I don't think they – if you're going to eat money, that lessens the value for the players. So, like, is it better to have Nelson Aguilar and have that much dead money or have him on the
Starting point is 00:06:08 roster? Right now, everyone's playing healthy. You've got Aguilar. Excuse me. You've got Parker. You've got Myers. You've got Thornton. What if one of those guys gets hurt? There goes your depth. And with Isaiah Wynn?
Starting point is 00:06:34 I know. I know. And with Isaiah Wynn, the way he's playing, I don't see a team trading for him. But then again, he plays at a position, left tackle, that usually you don't get out to free agency. Right. So maybe the Patriots are hoping that he gets surprises people and there was one team. All he needs is one team in free agency to overpay the guy. And maybe you get a third or fourth round compensatory pick in 2024. To me, I was only those. I never thought they were going to trade those sides. They were straight up. I never thought they were going to trade those sides. They were straight up. I never thought they were going to eat money.
Starting point is 00:07:09 All right? Right. That's why I think that's what they did. I think if – I know it was 10 trades today. It's an NFL record. But, folks, the Patriots have been making trades all throughout the Bill Belichick era. If this time Europe said because they didn't make a trade during one day, that's on you. I don't think it's on Bill Belichick, especially if you remember how many trades they made this year.
Starting point is 00:07:38 All right? Absolutely. Because they've been dealing um trades so i and and on the whole i think if you either measure up the trades and i should do this maybe i'll do this in a tweet later is this is what they traded for this year and this is what they got in return and then let everybody just judge if their pages made good made good trades as a whole i think they did i'm remembering if i had included the cap space which would be a lot a lot more time but um i think in a whole they did i mean like for example nikhil harvey for whatever they got from the bears that was a good trade jared did him good trade for me and anything for
Starting point is 00:08:18 him was a you know yeah exactly no offense to the jerry sims family um okay hopefully it's your question mike no it absolutely does and no i mean no one thinks that you're being you know disingenuous to the families of nikhil harry or jared stidham or the players themselves look bottom line they were not they were awkward at best fits in new england and really not so much jared i think he's just he was a victim of the numbers game but he'll for whatever reason it just didn't work out here and for him so it's time to move on it's time to go and make that move and the Patriots did just that I agree 100% with what you said in terms of when they looked at moving Aguilar they looked at moving Wynn especially with Wynn the compensatory pick possibly coming back is probably as good
Starting point is 00:09:05 if not better than what they would have gotten on the open market win absolutely has to prove himself from a logistical standpoint taking finances out of this for a second from an x and o standpoint what i see on the field is a guy that needs to play a little bit better if he hopes to get a max deal or a decent deal out there on the free agent market. Now, tackles, offensive linemen are always going to be paid. There's no question about it. So Isaiah is probably going to be in for a decent payday at the very least. But if he's looking to maximize his value, he's probably looking at a situation where he knows now he's got a couple of months in New England.
Starting point is 00:09:41 He's staying put. So now he's going to put it all out there on the field. And maybe New England gets the best of him for the last couple of months in New England he's staying put so now he's going to put it all out there on the field and maybe New England gets the best of him for the last couple of months and then you know stranger things have happened Miguel you know we always say like well he'll be on his merry way maybe there's a situation where this kind of gives new life to the uh to the relationship I personally don't think it will but you know it could happen so um excellent spot on analysis and i do agree with you financially i think this move i should say the right move to make okay i should say this about zio when he didn't i know for a fact he didn't attend not one and i think somebody else has said this before so i'm not breaking news he did not attend what one
Starting point is 00:10:21 offseason did not earn one penny of offseason workout bonus money. So like Mac Jones, he attended all 32. Isaiah Wynn attended zero. Even when Stefan Gilmore was beefing with the Patriots about his contract, he at least attended the
Starting point is 00:10:39 mandatory minicamp, so he attended four. Isaiah Wynn, zero. I said it was zero. I'm like, holy cow. That's a good point. That is a very, very good point. So, you know, I know our main man Murph has joined me here on the air several times.
Starting point is 00:10:54 He was on here yesterday. We talked a little bit about, you know, what was going on with Wynn. And, you know, there's sort of, you know, this undercurrent that maybe he's already mentally checked out of New England. If that is indeed the case, then he really is going to still need to step up his games. Because even if he doesn't want to play well for New England, if he continues to have difficulty, it's only going to devalue him on the open market. So New England doesn't part with Wynn.
Starting point is 00:11:17 They held on to Aguilar. Were you surprised that they held on to Aguilar? Because I didn't expect them to trade, obviously, Myers, definitely not Harris. I didn't expect them to trade Bourne, but Aguilar was out there kind of dangling. I was wondering if there was going to be a team that was going to bite onto the remainder of his salary. Okay. Some teams make trades. Some teams should make trades.
Starting point is 00:11:41 The teams I thought they should have made trades or the should have traded for aguilar for the cowboys and packers yeah all right um fans of those teams i i don't know what to say they live in they play those two teams play in a lousy conference all right they needed to step up their game, get increased their talent. All right. And they had the cap space to do it. I would, you know, so I'd be I'd be if I was I'm a fan of the Patriots, but if I was a fan of the Packers or the Cowboys, I'd be more upset at them for not doing anything than the Patriots stand in Pat. Yeah, absolutely. impact yeah absolutely um so like this like i don't know we're seeing more and more trades and that's because we're seeing more younger and younger gms in the business all right and they
Starting point is 00:12:36 devalue picks draft picks all right some people like to hold on to them and the teams that make trades go after our phase post people off the practice ones those are teams they're always doing something teams are always doing something to make their team better those are the teams going to end up winning i think like like i don't have i i don't i don't see i'll be wrong i'll probably write my kids down i can't see how the packers and the cowboys win a Super Bowl this year. Right? And I'm not saying because they didn't trade for Nelson Aguilar, because I just, bottom line is I don't think they did enough
Starting point is 00:13:11 to improve their teams to make them Super Bowl-tending teams. Maybe they'll go on a run like the Bengals. All right? Like, okay? But I just don't see it happening. And it takes two to tango. Right. You know what I'm saying? happening um and it takes two to tango right like you know so like if i thought if all 31 teams
Starting point is 00:13:29 were interested in nelson aguilar or isaiah when maybe a trade happens right but there's gonna be few and few teams are interested and some teams don't don't make trades like you know it's like i would have been shocked if the bangals had made a trade this year. And I don't think they did. I would have been shocked that the backers did. I was shocked. Like, I heard the Texans, the Cowboys were talking to the Texans for Brandon Cooks. Brandon Cooks, yeah.
Starting point is 00:14:00 Yep. But they couldn't come up on the compensation. Like, literally, they should have went for the cheaper guy. I mean, Nelson Aguilar for a half a year rental than Nelson, than Brandon Cooks, who's got $18 million guaranteed next year. Okay, I don't want to rant about Jerry Jones again. So I'll stop. No, you're right.
Starting point is 00:14:24 I mean, you know know especially from a packers you know uh standpoint you know you're supposedly going all in with aaron rogers this year i mean oh my god you know if there's pass catchers out there to be had you had to think that maybe there was some interest in agalor i'm not sure how deep those conversations uh you know when or even if they were they were taking place there were all kinds of rumor and innuendo but again this year it was just such a difficult market such a difficult uh media scrum to read this year uh when it came to the trade deadline and it is a record-setting day so obviously there were a lot of conversations being taken place yeah and you know how they not go for claypool or whatever i mean i don't know
Starting point is 00:15:02 it is true the pages will get credit The Patriots will probably get more criticized for not making a trade than those two other teams. Yeah, and there is definitely something to be said about that. We're not completely done talking Patriots yet, folks, because Miguel still has to let us know how this is all going to shake out. But a couple of key division rivals of the New England Patriots spent a little bit today to bring in some valuable capital. How does it all work out, and will they regret any of these moves from a financial standpoint? My man Miguel sets the record straight in just a moment when this episode of the Lockdown Patriots podcast continues.
Starting point is 00:15:40 But first, folks, I want to tell you a little bit about our sponsor today, PrizePix. Daily fantasy made easy. Let me tell you how it works. You pick two to five players, and if they will go score more or less than their PrizePix projection, you can win up to ten times your money on any entry. There's no competing with other people. It's just you versus the projections available. And PrizePix offers projections on any sport that you would want to watch, including NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball, NHL, college football,
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Starting point is 00:16:41 If you deposit $50, PrizePix will give you $100. If you deposit $50, PrizePix will give you $50. Don't forget to enter the promo code LOCKEDON at signup for instant deposit match up to $100. prizepix.com Patriots fans, it is a record-setting trade deadline episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast. I'd love to say it's a record-setting episode for the podcast, but it is record-setting episode for the podcast,
Starting point is 00:17:05 but it is record-setting because my man Miguel has joined us here today to break everything down. Of course, the Pats cap himself, Miguel Benzon, has given us his wisdom and counsel on the Patriots' financial decisions today in standing Pat at the trade deadline. Miguel, the Patriots may not have made a move, but two of their key division rivals definitely did as a matter of fact the Miami Dolphins making a pair of moves bringing in a much-needed running back a very much needed uh or I should say much coveted uh defensive uh star in Bradley Chubb and of course uh the Buffalo Bills uh you know making no mistake about it they're going all in as well.
Starting point is 00:17:48 They brought in Niall Hines from the Indianapolis Colts, who the Patriots, incidentally, will be facing this week. Miguel, when you look at the moves that are made by the Patriots rivals, obviously it's going to get the blood boiling of the fan base. Why are the Bills and Dolphins making moves? Why aren't the Patriots? You outlined very well about the Patriots' financial situation, but is there anything that the Bills or the Dolphins should be aware of in the moves that they made today about kicking the financial can down the street?
Starting point is 00:18:13 Let's do the Bills first because the Bills traded away a running back, Zach Moss, in the trade for Hines, which kind of offsets the cost of obtaining heinz right that was a smart move on their part he hasn't hasn't have any guaranteed money next year so they can if if they need cash space they could just cut them and and not lose and not have any dead money all right right and folks uh this says this is the total aside every now and remember there are every now and then, people say NFL players should have fully guaranteed contracts.
Starting point is 00:18:51 It would hurt the business of the NFL if they did so. I doubt that the bills would trade for Hines. His 2023-24 salaries were fully guaranteed. Right. Okay. As for the Dolphins, his 2023-24 salaries were fully guaranteed. Right.
Starting point is 00:19:05 Okay. As for the Dolphins, if they have not reached a long-term extension, agreement to have a long-term extension with Bradley Chubb, that was a mistake. Right. That was a mistake because he has all the leverage in the dealings with them. All right. So I don't know that we're doing this live or 6-26 later. that was a mistake because he then he has all the leverage in the dealings with them all right so
Starting point is 00:19:25 i don't know that i we're doing this live or 6 26 like that so i um i've been off twitter during this podcast so i don't know maybe they'll be maybe adam chef was tweeting out the details of a deal right now but if they haven't that was a mistake on their part. It's – these two moves, I think, tell you that they want to win the Super Bowl this year. All right? And I just think it's – as a Patriots fan, I think it's – I take it as a badge of honor that the Bills are kind of copying what the Patriots have done in the sense that they've had excellent pass-catching RBs on their roster for up-teen years, from Kevin Fogg to James White to now Ramond Ray Stevenson. So now the Bills are following that model by obtaining Naheem Hines.
Starting point is 00:20:32 The Dolphins know to beat, to get to the Super Bowl, they probably have to go through the Bills, all right? And they got to put pressure on Josh Allen, all right? So they got Bradley Chubb. That makes sense. It's kind of funny. As the NFL increases the number of games in the regular season, it lessens the impact of divisional games. But now with seven games, seven teams in the playoffs,
Starting point is 00:20:58 it's likely that you might play it more likely than you play it in divisional rival three times in the playoffs. Right. All right. So there's a chance that the Dolphins might play the Bills. If they want to get to the Super Bowl this year, they're going to have to play the Bills probably two more times. I think they played them once already.
Starting point is 00:21:16 So that makes sense for them. But if they did not read an extension with him or Bradley Chubb, boy, the Chubb's got a lot of leverage because you traded away those picks. And it'll look foolish if he walks away in free agency. Yeah, it definitely will. And all indications are that the Dolphins and Chubb are looking to extend this deal. They're looking to, you know, keep him in the fold, at least for the foreseeable future. So you have to think that the Dolphins had that in mind before they went into this. Just, you know, a temporary rental or whatever that was going to be the case was certainly not going to work in this situation. So, you know, it is tough to watch your division rivals. And you mentioned the Buffalo Bills kind
Starting point is 00:21:55 of taking the page out of the Patriots book, how the tables have turned in the Buffalo Bills being one of the other juggernauts right now in the NFC, in the now in the AFC, but in the NFL as well. And of course, the Miami Dolphins right there trying to keep pace. And you've got the Patriots and the Jets right now kind of treading water. Obviously, the Jets are in better shape record-wise, but the Patriots might be gaining on them as well. So, you know, it may be a tough year in the Ac east for the new england patriots but uh they will continue to do what they do and of course the patriots always have their eye on the future folks as does my man miguel the patriots might be in decent financial shape oh yeah things happen
Starting point is 00:22:37 in the off season this year and miguel is going to let us know in just a moment when we wrap things up here on this trade deadline episode exactly how the New England Patriots may have better positioned themselves financially by not doing anything today on the trade deadline this and more when Locked On Patriots continues but first folks today's episode is brought to you by betonline.net your number one source for football betting information this season find all of the latest player developments, team matchups, podcasts, in-depth articles, and analysis on every game that you can find. And as always, BetOnline remains your continued source for all of your sport wagering information
Starting point is 00:23:16 with live betting and up-to-the-minute scores for every sport out there. They're the fastest and the easiest way to check in on all of your favorite games and events, including Major League Baseball, MMA, boxing, and golf. Head to BetOnline.net or use your mobile device to learn more about the trends and the action. BetOnline, where the game starts. Patriots fans, the salary cap top gun himself joins me here today Miguel Benzon bringing us all the wisdom and counsel that you can handle when it comes to the New England Patriots activity or lack thereof at today's trading deadline and Miguel we talked a little bit about what the rivals did we talked
Starting point is 00:23:58 a little bit about the financial reasons that the Patriots had for standing pat this time around. But bottom line, and I hinted at this when I opened the show today and saying that I believe that the Patriots staying put at the deadline makes sense. They could have sold off some pieces for some small return, but they really were not in a financial position to go all in on someone like a Bradley Chubb or a Roquan Smith. You outlined that perfectly. Now the Patriots are going to play out the string and see where it takes you, and they're going to keep some salary cap flexibility for next season. That's where you come in, my friend. You're looking now at 2023, if you're the New England Patriots. By not making a move here, how does this set them up financially
Starting point is 00:24:42 for 2023 in terms of trying to make maybe a little bit more of a free agent splash than they did a trade splash today? Well, the Patriots, right now, Mike, really depends on how they made room for the player, they would have had to create cap space either now or later during the year. Still would have been... Which means if you create cap space this year by restructuring the deal, that means you increase the players, that player's cap number in 2023. All right? So which means the cap space in 2023 would have been less.
Starting point is 00:25:35 If you had cut a player, it probably might have been a wash, but depending on who you cut. So it's hard to say specifically without knowing what would have happened. It really depends. You didn't want to... They still might, they still might, Mike, restructure
Starting point is 00:26:00 a deal which would increase the players' 2023 cap number. We'll see. They're close, Mike because they're close mike they're close to if my numbers are on um depending on how many practice squad elevations they make the rest of the year they might they might need to create cap space all right and, knock on wood, if they stay relatively healthy, they might not need to. But if they suffer some, have a bad batch of injuries and they need to keep it, they put players on the ice, they'll definitely need to create cap space. But I don't like to speak about injuries. I don't want to speak it into existence.
Starting point is 00:26:41 All right. But let's just talk about 2023. All right. As of now, folks, and I'll just say this. Every week I tweet out what I have for the Patriots 2023 number. All right. I'm having a chance because we're doing a show live. And as far as I know, the Patriots might have made some transactions while mike and i were talking
Starting point is 00:27:09 because today is tuesday and they would probably made some transactions because if you have a player on the rosa as on tuesdays of the week the player gets paid for the week so that's why you see a lot of transactions throughout the nfl each week because you don't want to pay to play for the week if you're going to cut them on a wednesday or you know say um so i have it right now it's 36 and a half million dollars all right and i know people have say well why is that so much less than everybody else let me explain why okay right now i have five players who are on pace to earn not likely to be earned incentives right right in 2022 if they earn them it then makes them likely to be earned in 2023 increasing their cap numbers all right so for those folks who maintain their Excel workbook I'm going to say these players and the amount slowly. Matthew Judon has a $500,000 all-pro incentive.
Starting point is 00:28:08 First team or second team. All right? Right. Trent Brown can earn up to $4.5 million in playing time incentives. He's yet to miss a snap this year. All right? Dietrich Wise, $2 million. Like Mike V says every Sunday now, Dietrich Wise is playing a lot of snaps.
Starting point is 00:28:35 All right? So he can earn up to $2 million in playing time incentives. All right. She's going on Bentley, $.5 million dollars in incentives. OK, I had Devante Packer was on base to earn a three hundred seventy five thousand receiving as a set up. But he's no longer on pace. Yeah, I just haven't had a chance to because of the time I had a chance to update my notes. All right.
Starting point is 00:29:01 OK. Michael, I want to. He's on. He's already earned the proven performance escalator which increases the salaries of players not crafted in the first round to the low restricted free age refriction free agent tender of that year all right he's already done enough to earn what they can say level one tender. He's already done enough. What he's trying to do right now is to play 60%
Starting point is 00:29:33 of the snaps this year and now give him level two. Now earn him another increase in salary by another $250,000. He's not missed mr snap this year all right he's on so stay healthy if he stays healthy he's gonna make it all right right gotta say this cal duggar he has a chance to also earn that i don't have him earning it right now he has the chance to earn it all right he has to play over 60 percent
Starting point is 00:30:05 of a lot a lot of snaps the rest of the way because he's missed a couple of games this year right he gets over 60 percent of the year or on plays enough stuff so even for 60 percent of the year or 60 percent of the of the of the total snaps for the first three years he'll increase he'll get the ppe? And because these players have earned not likely to be earned senders, all right, that makes the Patriots adjusted cap, the Patriots lose adjusted cap
Starting point is 00:30:34 number be less than the league cap number. All right? So right now I project the league cap number as I point to my Excel workbook, which is kind of stupid because people can't see me. Can't see the numbers. All right.
Starting point is 00:30:49 Okay. All right. Right now, I'm projecting the 2020 lead cap to be $228.2 million, a $20 million increase from 2022. All right. I expect the Patriots to carry over $100,000. All right. Between the credits and incentives and stuff, they're going to have a negative adjustment.
Starting point is 00:31:11 All right? Of $4.7 million. I'm just rounding the numbers. All right? Yep. So it means their adjusted cap number is going to be $223.6 million, which is less than the lead cap number of $228.2 million. Right? Right now, there's an off-season workout charge every year.
Starting point is 00:31:33 It's going to be $900,000 just rounding. Right now, I have them with $1.4 million of dead money. I'm just using round numbers. I'm having, and I presume that the do this every year, the Patriots always sign a great number of their practice squad players to future contracts. So while they have only
Starting point is 00:31:54 right now about 41 players on the roster for the 2023 season, right after the season over, hopefully the season's over in February and not in January. All right? Absolutely.
Starting point is 00:32:08 Okay. I have the total top 51 cap commitments as $184.8 million. That difference is $36.5 million. Obviously, as players, you know, there's been up and down. Some players are on pace to earn centers. Some players are not playing or inactive because of injuries. So right now, I got to, you could say anywhere between 35 and 40, right? That's before any restructures, cuts, trades, anything, right?
Starting point is 00:32:43 That's going to put them them I don't do this kind of go into that kind of detail by every other team in the league all right but that should put them in the top ten top five of the league which is where you want to be all right absolutely there's no chance that the Patriots can get to be number one because that's the Bears this is over a hundred thousand dollars hundred million excuse me a hundred million dollars a gas face that's just ridiculous all right um but there's a chip i don't think the patriots will because of incentives and everything i don't have a i don't think they have a chance to become a number two but i can see them getting top five all right um and really depends on incentives and injuries and a couple things
Starting point is 00:33:32 i would say is like i have them making an rfa tender to one of their two prospective rfas you know they have two percent rfas one michael miles bryant and yanni caduce all right um i don't think they're gonna make them to both i just can't decide mike and folks if you want to jump in and tweet at me later after you listen to the show who do you think that if i should have a poll all right i'll probably do that during bye week all right if they if you think the patient's gonna um extend those give those guys rfa tenders all right um so i had one you know so if i if you the other sites don't don't have that number in there and the numbers all right um they the patient's gonna be and that's before any cuts mike you know
Starting point is 00:34:27 so they have and they have multiple ways to create cap space so they're in good position to get them i know people were talking about oh they you know they have so many free agents they're not going to be able to get any complex if the patients want to have a third round comp pick nick in 2024 they'll make it happen right exactly because i'll say this because one reason is because so many players got voided deals yeah and if and if they would if your deal voids next year and you're you were signed to 2024, you're not eligible to be part of the conference where you pick formula. Right. Like Deion Jones. That happened with Deion Jones.
Starting point is 00:35:12 Robert Quinn. You could sign those two players and they wouldn't pick formula at all. There's going to be multiple players in the next offseason who's gonna be in the same boat because a lot of teams use four years to help them get under the cap
Starting point is 00:35:31 all right absolutely no you're absolutely yeah you are you're absolutely right and look bottom line folks when you look to the future now in new england miguel i think has set it up very nicely in showing what needs to be done what the Patriots have done so far to get themselves where they need to be. And there is definitely hope at the end of the tunnel right now in 2022. Who knows what's going to happen in 2022? Stranger things have happened all over the NFL. So before we say we're punting 2023, you know, let's take a look and see what the 2022 iteration of the New England Patriots can do. Maybe they don't have all the big splash names on paper, but this is a team that still knows how to win football games. And as long as you have Bill Belichick on the sidelines with the final say in college plays, you always have a puncher's chance.
Starting point is 00:36:21 So, Bud, what can I say? I thank you so much for stopping by today on trade deadline day, busy day for us all here in the NFL, but definitely great to get your wisdom and counsel. And I know that you set the record straight in a lot of ways with a lot of what the fan base is hearing and a lot of what the New England Patriots did today. And folks, for those of you that want to hear Miguel set the record straight on us in the media and all the cat myths out there
Starting point is 00:36:45 because we're going to be having our good friend back on here during the Bible and he'll be ready to roll but for today's episode Miguel what can I say I always say this the fact of the alternates does not exist because you have no equal thank you so much for joining me here today my friend folks be sure to follow my good friend Miguel Benzano, the Patscap himself, on Twitter, at Patscap. All the great work that he does for keeping us all informed financially as to what the Patriots can do, what they can't do, what they should be doing, and what they're not doing. But most of all, all the work that this man does in the community for Habitat and Hartford is something that truly is a blessing to anyone that's been able to benefit from the great work that he does.
Starting point is 00:37:30 Thank you. I think you deserve so much credit for that. Check out Miguel's Twitter feed for all of the information that you need on that. Folks, in the meantime, thank you very much for choosing Locked On Patriots to be a part of your daily New England Patriots coverage and hopefully your first listen every day. Remember, Lockdown Patriots free and available on all platforms, so smash that subscribe button on YouTube and download, subscribe to, and follow wherever you get your podcasts. On behalf of my good friend Miguel, that Pat's cap bends on himself,
Starting point is 00:37:58 I'm Mike DeBate. Stay safe, stay well, be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone.

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