Last updated on January 20, 11:45 AM EDT

DISCLAIMER:

I would like to thank Pats39, Peachhead, Jim S, Chris Matthews "CJ", Ian Logue, Andrew Brecher, Jocelyn Robichaud, Naren99, Ickster and Paul Dalrymple. Each of them have in their own way provided invaluable assistance and guidance. Please note that NONE of them are responsible for errors on this page.

I have moved the listing of sources I have used to compile this page to its own page in order to decrease the page's download time. Click here. The capsources page also includes links to cap pages for other NFL teams.

If you would like the Excel 97 workbook that I use to compile these page, you can download it in a zipped format by clicking on the following link Cap workbook - zipped.

Please note that Paul Katcher of Time Magazine called this page "by far the weirdest site I came across while researching this guide" in his listing of Essential bookmarks for the true football fan. and that on Page 4 of the September 3, 2001 issue of Time Magazine this page is referred to as "informed analysis of the Patriots' salary-cap problems."

Most recent changes.

1. Added a link to USA Today's web page that contained
2. Created a page that lists when each current Patriot player will become a free agent in the future.
3. Here's my attempt to deconstruct Drew Bledsoe's 2002 cap figure. I read in CBS Sportsline somewhere that his 2002 cap figure would be $6,333,333.
   $3,000,000 - salary
   $2,000,000 - guaranteed injury insurance. From Bryan Morry's article:"the deal also includes injury insurance that guarantees Bledsoe $6 million over the first three years of the contract. He will get $2 million each year for the first three years on top of the salary, making his total guaranteed money $14 million over the first three years of the contract." Because the NFLPA salary feature lists Bledsoe's 2002 salary as 5 million, I am very comfortable with these first two figures.
   $1,333,333 - $8 million signing bonus prorated over 6 years. Why not 4 years??Because the CBA says that "The total amount of any signing bonus shall be prorated over the term of the Player Contract in determining Team and Player Salary, except that Signing bonuses agreed to in a Capped Year may not be prorated more than three years beyond the Final Capped Year." Since the NFLPA player salary search feature lists Bledsoe's salary for every year up to the year 2010, it appears that his extension can tie him to the Patriots until 2010. At the time of Bledsoe's extension, the Final Capped Year was 2003 so the signing bonus can be prorated through the 2006 season. I am very comfortable with this figure.
   $5,760 in workout bonus money (maximum of 64 workouts times $90 per workout - See Article 35 of the CBA.

   What do I now think is Bledsoe's cap hit if he was traded??
   $6,666,667 from the acceleration of his signing bonus.

   Nick Cafardo has changed his cap hit figure on 11/13.

   
   He now says that that the "Patriots officials have confirmed" that "it will take a cap hit of just over $6 million" to trade or release Drew this offseason.
   Bledsoe's cap hit changes depending on who you read.
   6.7 million - Ron Borges of the Boston Globe - "So now maybe Bledsoe gets traded, because the $6.7 million salary cap hit it would take in the offseason is not so severe the team couldn't take it."
   6.37 million - <Mark Cannizzaro - "If Bledsoe is traded or released, he'll cost $6.37 million against the 2002 salary cap. If he remains on the team, he counts $6.78 million against the cap. There, too, is speculation that he could be exposed in the expansion draft."
   Jay Glazer of CBS Sportsline - "Should Bledsoe be on the roster next year, the quarterback would count $6.333 million against their cap. But if he's traded or released he would count $6.666 million -- a small difference considering the overall value of the contract could be as much as $103 million.

   According to his contract, Bledsoe's salary-cap number for next season is $6.333 million, $5 million in salary and $1.333 in previous bonus money. In three weeks Bledsoe is due a $4 million payment as the second half of an $8 million option bonus the team picked up on July 1.

   Thus, should they trade him to a team such as the Houston Texans, Detroit Lions or Tampa Bay Buccaneers, $6.666 million of this bonus would accelerate to hit the Patriots salary cap next year, a $333,333 difference."

   As of 11/26, I'm going with Glazer's figures since they make the most sense to me.

4. Please note that Marty Moore AND David Nugent are signed through the 2002 season.
5. It appears that Milloy restructured his contract sometime in 2002. For the longest time, the NFLPA player salary search feature listed Milloy's 2001 salary as $1,300,000. It now lists it as $477,000 so it appears that the Patriots converted $823,000 into a signing bonus, saving $685,833 of this year's cap while adding $137,167 to Milloy's cap figures for the next 5 years. I like to thank Pats39 for passing on this information.
6. Please note that I have an expansion draft page that may answer any question(s) that you may have about the expansion draft.
7. Edited the cap figures for Brock Williams and Terry Glenn. Please note that according to my calculations, the Patriots are over the cap. Obviously, that is wrong.
8. Now that the regular season is here, removed the Top 51 column since it is no longer a factor. Now believe that the media reports that Edwards will be on the books for the 2002 season, lowering his 2001 cap hit.
9. Please note that I think that the players on IR should not be listed in the Top 51 list. 9/9 Update - I was wrong about this. From the 49ers website,"As of 1:00 p.m. PDT Saturday, the NFL begins counting all 53 salaries, plus practice squad and reserve players on an individual team. Up until that time, the league counts only the top 51 salaries."
10. Updated David Patten's cap figures. It appears that he signed a 3-year extension receiving a $1 million dollar signing bonus.
11. Created a transactions page so as to speed up the download time of this page.
12. Removed Robert Edwards from the roster. According to the Boston Herald, "Terms of the injury settlement were not released, but it was believed to be no more than $200,000. What's more, by releasing Edwards, the Pats actually took a hit against the salary cap. Edwards' cap number was scheduled to be $1.23 million in 2001, but after factoring in the settlement and an accelerated signing bonus proration, that number will jump to around $1.5 million. Edwards is now off the books for next season."
13. Updated the bonus worksheet within the Excel workbook to include all types of bonuses (Reporting, roster, workout) to make it easier to figure out the cap hit if a player is released.
14. Updated the cap figure for Glenn. From what I gathered, the Pats no longer are responsible for Glenn's 480,000 salary. According to the Boston Herald, the Pats are still responsible for the rest of his cap figure. Unfortunately, the media is reporting different figure for Glenn's cap figures. Please bear with me as this situation is very hard to figure out and follow.
15. Created a Patriots roster page.

The letter in the parentheses after the player's name is the footnote reference letter. Please note that I hope to use the same reference letter for several players. The footnote refers only to the 2001 salary and 2001 cap figures. Please note that I am GUESSING that players scheduled to be on the IR like Katzenmoyer and Ray Hill will remain on the Top 51 list until 9/2 4PM EDT.

Name	Pos	Exp	Signed through	2001 Salary	2001 Cap	2002 Salary	2002 Cap	Signing Bonus
Andruzzi, Joe (A)	OG	4	2004	448,000	468,200	550,000	733,333	183,333 PA for 3 years
Ayi, Kole	LB	R	2001	92,889	92,889
Bledsoe, Drew (C)	QB	8	2010	3,500,000	8,236,390	5,000,000	6,333,333	1,333,333 PA - 6 yrs
Brady, Tom (G)	QB	1	2002	298,000	314,960	375,000	387,800	12,800 PA - 3 yrs
Brown, Troy (C)	WR	8	2004	650,000	1,215,200	1,150,000	1,715,200	500K PA - 5 yrs 55,000 (workout)
Bruschi, Ted (C)	OLB	5	2001	650,000	1,230,200			500K PA - 2 yrs
Buckley, Terrell (C)	CB	9	2001	500,000	500,000
Chatham, Matt (Z)	LB	1	2001	248,333	264,493
Cherry, Je'Rod	S	5	2002	477,000	477,000	477,000	477,000
Coleman, Fred	WR	R	2001	104,500	104,500
Compton, Mike	OG	8	2003	477,000	689,900	1,000,000	1,312,667	212K PA - 3yrs
Cox, Bryan	LB	10	2001	600,000	800,000			150,000 - 1 year 50,000 (roster)

Name	Pos	Exp	Signed through	2001 Salary	2001 Cap	2002 Salary	2002 Cap	Signing Bonus
Edwards, Marc (C)	FB	4	2002	450,000	630,200	500,000	680,200	175K PA - 2 yrs
Faulk, Kevin (D)	RB	2	2003	389,000	688,160	418,000	758,000	200K PA - 5 yrs 95,000 (roster)
Glenn, Terry (C)	WR	5	2007	346,667	1,979,524	675,000	3,274,400
Hamilton, Bobby (H)	DE	5	2003	500,000	705,200	550,000	756,000	150K PA - 4 yrs
Harris, Atwan (G)	CB	R	2002	298,000	319,660	375,000	392,500	17,500 PA - 3 yrs
Huard, Damon	QB	8	2003	525,000	655,200	575,000	705,200	125K PA - 3yrs
Izzo, Larry (T)	LB	5	2004	448,000	521,950	477,000	551,000	68,750 PA - 4 yrs
Jackson, Curtis (AA)	WR	1	2001	210,111	210,111
Johnson, Charles (W)	WR	5	2002	500,000	600,000	1,000,000	1,100,000	100K PA - 2yrs
Johnson, Ted (H)	LB	5	2003	477,000	3,976,000	3,100,000	6,577,300	500K PA - 6yrs 1MM PA - 5 yrs 106,000 (workout) 1,023,000 (roster)
Jones, Kenyatta (X)	OL	R	2004	209,000	300,250	300,000	391,250	91,250 PA - 4 yrs
Jones, Tebucky (C)	FS	3	2002	536,950	1,167,150	628,200	1,258,960	525K PA - 5 yrs
Kelly, Ben (G)	CB	1	2002	165,556	165,556	375,000	380,760

Name	Pos	Exp	Signed through	2001 Salary	2001 Cap	2002 Salary	2002 Cap	Signing Bonus
Law, Ty (P)	CB	6	2005	2,400,000	5,033,771	3,700,000	6,834,600	2,034,286 PA - 7 yrs
Light, Matt (U)	OL	R	2004	260,000	586,250	325,000	651,250	326,250 PA - 4 yrs
McGinest, Willie (J)	DE	6	2006	477,000	4,443,900	3,400,000	8,367,700	1.6 MM PA -5 yrs
Milloy, Lawyer (O)	SS	5	2006	477,000	1,576,467	2,500,000	3,463,000	857,143 PA - 7 yrs
Mitchell, Brandon	DT	4	2001	448,000	476,200			25,000
Myers, Leonard (X)	CB	R	2004	209,000	222,750	300,000	313,750	13,750 PA - 4 yrs
Nugent, David (BB)	DT	1	2002	198,667	238,827	389,000	389,000
Parker, Riddick (A)	DT	4	2001	448,000	449,200
Pass, Patrick (G)	RB	1	2002	298,000	315,500	375,000	375,000
Patten, David	WR	4	2004	490,000	795,120	600,000	855,760	50,000 - 2001 250,000 - 4 yrs
Paxton, Lonnie (U)	LS	1	2001	298,000	303,200
Phifer, Roman	LB	10	2001	477,000	477,000
Pleasant, Anthony	DE	11	2003	500,000	571,867	850,000	1,096,900	67K PA - 3yrs

Name	Pos	Exp	Signed through	2001 Salary	2001 Cap	2002 Salary	2002 Cap	Signing Bonus
Redmond, J.R. (I)	RB	1	2003	298,000	444,660	375,000	521,660	75K PA - 4yrs
Robinson-Randall, Greg (G)	OT	1	2003	298,000	365,910	389,000	456,900	255,000 over 4 yrs
Ruegamer, Grey (A)	G	2	2001	389,000	393,200
Rutledge, Rod	TE	3	2001	418,000	604,200			185K PA - 4 yrs
Seymour, Richard (X)	DE	R	2006	1,200,000	2,000,000	820,000	2,200,000	800K PA - 6yrs 640K PA - 5 yrs starting in 2002
Shaw, Terrance	CB	6	2002	477,000	493,700	1,500,000	3,016,700	11,500 PA - 2yrs
Smith, Antowain	RB	4	2001	475,000	501,000			25,000
Small, Torrance	WR	8	2001	500,000	501,200
Smith, Otis (T)	CB	11	2004	480,000	662,700	700,000	1,462,700
Stephens, Matt	S	4	2003	477,000	515,200	565,000	600,000	10K PA - 3 yrs

Name	Pos	Exp	Signed through	2001 Salary	2001 Cap	2002 Salary	2002 Cap	Signing Bonus
Turner, T.J. (X)	LB	R	2003	209,000	215,333	300,000	306,333	6,333 PA - 3 yrs
Vinatieri, Adam (R)	K	5	2001	500,000	955,200			300K PA - 3 yrs, 150,000 (roster)
Vrabel, Mike (T)	LB	4	2003	448,000	555,200	575,000	655,200	75K PA - 3 yrs
Walter, Ken (BB)	K	4	2001	298,667	298,667
Wiggins, Jermaine (U)	TE	1	2001	298,000	303,120
Williams, Brock (U)	CB	R	2001	209,000	209,000
Williams, Grant (C)	T	6	2001	477,000	1,242,200
Woody, Damien (D)	C	2	2004	389,000	1,183,200	418,000	1,208,000	770K PA - 5 yrs

Players no longer with the Pats or on IR, or non-football-injury reserve list
15,462,774 of the cap is being spent on the above type players so that the Pats' dead money percentage is 22.94%.
I will list the players with cap hits less than $10,000 at the end of table.
Akbar, Hakim (X)					209,000	244,500	300,000	340,500	35,500 PA - 2 yrs
Bishop, Michael						12,827			8,667
Bjornson, Eric						75,000
Brisby, Vincent						250,000
Edwards, Robert (C)						725,200		620,000	620K PA - 5 yrs
Emanuel, Bert (A)					500,000	505,200
Fletcher, Derrick (D)						31,333			31,333 PA - 3 yrs
Friesz, John (D)						200,000			200K PA - 3 yrs
George, Tony						117,493
Hill, Ray					418,000	418,000
Holloway, Jabari (X)					209,000	286,500	300,000	383,260	77,500 PA - 4 yrs
Holmberg, Rob						65,700
Ivy, Khory						16,000
Johnson, Lee (Y)					477,000	810,300			233K PA - 3 yrs
Katzenmoyer, Andy (D)					389,000	1,120,350	418,000	1,228,050	406,250 PA - 4 yrs
Klemm, Adrian (G)					325,000	624,160	400,000	695,000	245,000 PA - 5 yrs, 50,000 (workout)
Lane, Max (N)						1,846,667
Love, Arthur (X)					209,000	225,250	300,000	316,250	16,250 PA - 4yrs
Marriott, Jeff (G)						46,667			23,333 PA - 3 yrs
Moore, Marty					477,000	477,000	500,000	500,000
Panos, Joe						67,660		62,500	62,500 PA - 2 yrs
Pochman, Owen						11,500		11,500	11,500 PA - 2 yrs
Rucci, Todd						1,120,000
Sayler, Jace (B)					209,000	211,750			2,750
Simmons, Tony(A)						192,700
Slade, Chris (S)						1,980,000			700K PA - 5 yrs
Thomas, Hank (Q)						1,100,000			800K PA - 3 yrs
Tisdale, Casey (G)						15,333			7,667 PA - 3yrs
Whigham, Larry						330,000
Williams, Brock (X)					209,000	351,500	300,000	448,260
Williams, Walter (B)						120,000
Salary Cap Adjustment						1,152,000
Dead Money Totals (2002 figures do NOT include the players on IR)					2,654,000	14,897,330		694,000
Totals					29,969,339	67,802,018	38,192,200	66,012,666

Terrance Beadles	- 6,160
Larry Bowie		- 5,120
Brad Costello		- 5,120
Adam Davis		- 5,120
Antico Dalton		- 5,120
Shockmain Davis		- 5,120
Chris Eitzmann		- 4,160	
Rob Gatrell		- 5,200
Reggie Grimes		- 5,120
Dan Hadenfelt		- 5,750
Yubrenal Isabelle	- 1,000 
Antonio Langham		- 1,600
David Leaverton		- 4,000
Dane Looker		- 4,160
Emarlos Leroy		- 3,760
Sean Morey		- 5,200
Chuck Osborne		- 5,200
Saul Patu		- 4,000
Jeff Paulk		- 5,120
Kato Serwanga		- 8,120
Greg Spires		- 5,200
Mauguala Tuitele        - 5,120

• (A) - Salary figure comes from using the NFLPA search feature
• (B) - Salary is rookie minimum. Signing bonus is a guess. In 1999 the Patriots signed 17 undrafted free agents. 15 of them received one-year contracts. Two of whom received two-year contracts. 10 of the 17 (59%) received a signing bonus. The average signing bonus was $2,750. The highest SB received was $5,000. The lowest was $2,000. So, in guessing the signing bonuses for the undrafted free agents, I am figuring that 60% of them will receive a signing bonus of $2,750.
• (C) - Salary figure comes from using the NFLPA search feature. Cap figure reported in Bryan Morry crunches the numbers involved in Drew Bledsoe's extension. Here are some details:
  Bledsoe will receive $8 million up front. The deal also includes injury insurance that guarantees Bledsoe $6 million over the first three years of the contract. He will get $2 million each year for the first three years on top of the salary, making his total guaranteed money $14 million over the first three years of the contract.

  With the extension, the Patriots bought flexibility for how they handle Bledsoe's future. The team holds three contract options that will help them spread Bledsoe's money as they see fit.

  The first option comes after the first year of the extension, at which time the team can secure all 10 years of the deal by paying a $7.2 million bonus. The salary cap implications make this option very unlikely to be exercised.

  The second option for the team comes after the fourth year, when the Patriots can buy years 5-7 of the deal for a $7 million bonus. Finally, the team also holds an option to buy years 8-10 for an $8 million bonus.

  If the Patriots did exercise the first option, they would not have to pay the bonus money in the second two options. However, that is an unlikely scenario because if Bledsoe's career were cut short for any reason, the salary cap ramifications would strap the team financially."

  Will McDonough on the cap ramifications of trading Drew Bledsoe: "Bledsoe just signed a contract extension this year. He got an $8 million bonus as part of a $30 million, four-year deal. On paper, the bonus is pro-rated over the four years. Even though he got the money up front, in NFL accounting procedures, only $2 million of the bonus counts on the Patriots' books this year. However, if they were to trade him next year, the $6 million bonus portion remaining will come due immediately on the Patriots' 2002 account.

  But the Patriots would get off the hook for the $5 million they owe him in salary for the 2002 season, so when the math on Bledsoe is concluded, the real hit on the salary cap would be only $1 million. The league cap is expected to exceed $70 million for 2002, so this would not be a big deal."

• (D) - Figures comes from 1999 complete NFL rookie contract details (from CBS Sportsline).
• (E) - The figure needed to balance my figures with those reported in the media. My goal is to get this number as close to zero as possible.
• (F) - Salary figures comes from CBS's status of the 1999 draft picks. SB comes from the Boston Herald.
• (G) - Figures comes from Signing status of AFC 2000 draft picks (from CBS Sportsline).
• (H) - Salary figure comes from using the NFLPA search feature. Cap figure reported in Nick Cafardo's article listing the 2001 cap figures for most of the 2001 roster. According to the Boston Herald here's the cap consequences of releasing TJ:
  "Consider Johnson. His cap number goes to $6.2 million in 2001. If the Pats release him prior to June 1, he'll count even more than that, $7.11 million. If they make Johnson a post-June 1 casualty, the hit computes out to $2.37 million in 2001 and $4.74 million in 2002"
• (I) - Redmond received a $300,000 signing bonus and about $170,000 in roster bonuses. Redmond must make the team the first three years of the contract in order to receive those bonuses. He must also complete 80 percent of the team's 48 offseason workouts to keep the signing bonus. If he doesn't, he must pay back any prorated share. Redmond will earn the minimum salaries for the next 4 years. The fourth year also contains incentives that appear to be worth more than $120,000. On May 31 the Boston Globe reported that "According to Johnson's agent, Jack Mills, the Patriots should save more than $2 million in cap space...Johnson was carrying a $6.2 million cap number into the 2001 season, but that will be reduced to about $4 million, according to Mills.The length of Johnson's deal will remain the same, through 2003, but with the opportunity to revisit the contract annually...He (Johnson)has earned a $106,000 workout bonus for taking part in the offseason program, but he was scheduled to earn $3.725 million in salary, which no doubt has been reduced significantly for the upcoming season."
• (J) - Salary figure comes from using the NFLPA search feature. Cap figure reported in Nick Cafardo's article listing the 2001 cap figures for most of the 2001 roster.
  McGinest agreed to restructure his contract. Here are the details as found on the Globe: "The Patriots added two years to McGinest's contract when they renegotiated the deal a few weeks ago. McGinest's five-year, $25 million contract, which included an $8 million signing bonus, was to expire in 2002. Basically the new deal involved four years and $10 million, which reduced the cap number for this year from $7.2 million to $4.44 million. The Patriots took some scheduled roster bonuses that were worth $2 million over the next two years and tied them into a $3.861 million signing bonus and a $477,000 base salary. McGinest's cap number will rise to $8.367 million next year but drop to $5.65 million in 2003. It will be $10 million in 2004." According to a post made by the Ickster, here are the cap consequences of releasing Willie during the 2002 season:
  "However, it is a misconception that most (McGinest's cap number) of it is base salary. His base salary is $3.4M in 2002. The remainder is made up by bonus amortization ( a little less than $3.8M), roster bonus ($1M) and workout bonus ($100K).
  After next season the Pats are beyond the signing bonus amortization from his original contract, and are only subject to the bonus amortization from the bonus he received on his extension (about $3.4M spread over 6 years). If he were released prior to June 1 of next year he would be a dead money hit of over $6M in 2002. If released after June 1 he would be a dead money hit of about $3.8M in 2002 and $2.3M in 2003.
  If McGinest plays well next year the team will likely restructure him again, lowering his cap number to about $6M for 2002. He then would play for the team in 2002 at that number, and would have about $1.15M in bonus amortization per season in the final 4 years of his contract. Starting in 2003, the team would be able to release McGinest without killing their cap if he doesn't perform to his contract.
  If McGinest plays poorly this year, then he likely would be released in 2002 with the cap hits I mentioned above."
• (K) - Practice Squad Players make $4,000 for each week that they are on the roster.
• (L) - Salary figure comes from using the NFLPA search feature. Cap figure reported in Nick Cafardo's article listing the 2001 cap figures for most of the 2001 roster. Some details as reported in the media - "the club built several clauses into the deal that protect them against injury and other off-field issues. The contract also is structured so Glenn's bonus comes in layers and causes little salary cap damage in the first few years." "A large portion of Glenn's contract is tied up in personal and team incentives. To collect some of the bonuses, the Pats will have to win the Super Bowl."
  Boston Herald - 5/17/2001 - "The contractual issue is complicated. It's been reported that Glenn has already received nearly $10.5 million of his signing bonus, but that is not the case. The $10.5 million amount was made up of two separate bonuses, a $4.5 million bonus for the November signing and a $6 million option bonus triggered earlier this offseason. However, both bonuses are paid through a series of 26 deferred payments that stretch all the way to 2006. So far, Glenn has received just $2.75 million of his bonus money. If Glenn is found guilty of the assault charge - or violates any of the other provisions in the contract - the team can withhold future deferred payments."
  Boston Globe - 8/5/2001 - "When Glenn signed a $50 million contract last November, the deal included an $11.5 million bonus. He already has received $4 million. The next $6 million was split into 26 payments, with the first scheduled for June 15, which the Patriots have not paid. The next payment is due Sept. 15. Another $1.5 million is due at the end of the six-year extension."
  Nick Cafardo in the 11/4 edition of the Boston Sunday Globe: "While he has no playing time or performance incentives this year, starting next year, Glenn could earn $3 million-$7 million per season depending on how many games he plays and how many receptions he makes."
• (M) John Friesz's 2001 Cap figure consists of the prorated portion of his signing bonus ($200,000).
• (N) - I figure Lane's cap hit to be 1,846,667

  560,000 for the 2001 amortization of his SB
  560,000 for the 2002 amortization of his SB
  150,000 for the 2001 amortization of a 1999 restructure
  150,000 for the 2002 amortization of the same restructure
  213,333 for the 2001 amortization of a 1999 restructure
  213,333 for the 2002 amortization of the same restructure
  

• (O) - Salary figures comes from using the NFLPA search feature. Signing bonus information came from Pats39's post to the Patriots Usenet newsgroup. I am guessing that Milloy will be receiving roster bonuses of 50,000 in 2000;100,000 in 2001, 2002, 2003; 400,000 in 2004, 2005 and 500,000 in 2006. The 50,000 roster bonus helps explain why Milloy's 2001 Cap figure was reported to be $1.36 MM. I am speculating that Milloy also received a $4,800 workout bonus this year and will be receiving the same in future years. Why $4,800. According to CBS Sportsline, Milloy's total compensation for the 2000 season was $6,504,800. $6MM of that figure came from his SB, $450,000 of that figure came from his actual salary. That leaves $54,800 unaccounted for. New as of October 21 - It appears that Milloy restructured his contract sometime in 2002. For the longest time, the NFLPA player salary search feature listed Milloy's 2001 salary as $1,300,000. It now lists it as $477,000 so it appears that the Patriots converted $823,000 into a signing bonus, saving $685,833 of this year's cap while adding $137,167 to Milloy's cap figures for the next 5 years.
• (P) Cap figures come from the above Pats39's post. "The 2nd-best deal a CB has ever received (behind Deion). Totaling 7 years - $48.1M without Pro Bowl and Super Bowl incentives, which are $250K each, every year. He received a $14.2M signing bonus, which counts for $2M until 2005. The rest of the money breaks down as follows:

  
  1999 - $900,000 salary, a $500,000 reporting bonus, and a $100,000 offseason workout bonus
  2000 - $1.4 million salary, plus a $500,000 reporting bonus and $100,000 offseason workout bonus
  2001 - $2.4 million salary, $500,000 reporting bonus, and $100,000 workout bonus
  2002 - $3.7 million salary with a $1 million reporting bonus and $100,000 workout bonus
  2003 - $4.9 million in salary, a $1 million reporting bonus, and a $100,000 workout bonus
  2004 - $6.65 million base salary, with a $1 million reporting bonus and $100,000 workout bonus
  2005 - $7.75 million salary with a $1 million reporting bonus and a $100,000 workout bonus

  Oh yeah, as an added bonus, Law receives the workout bonus even if he doesn't work out with the team. His program doesn't need to be supervised by the team."

• (Q) According to Patriots FootBall Weekly the Pats would "save $1.6 million" by cutting Thomas before 2/28 while taking a cap hit of $1.1 million.
• (R) Adam Vinatier's cap figures consists of his salary, the prorated portion of his $900,000 SB ($300,000) and a $150,000 roster bonus. Don't know when the roster bonus kicks in.
• (S) Slade's cap figure comes from The Herald's article on Slade's release Basically, I subtracted $2,000,000 from Slade's previously reported cap figure of $4.034 million.
• (T) Izzo's cap figure comes from CBS Sportsline's article on his signing "Izzo, 26, signed a four-year, $2.183 million contract. It includes a $275,000 signing bonus and base salaries of $477,000 each 2001-2004"
• (U) Rookie Tender Offer
• (V) Small's cap figure come from CBS Sportsline's article on his signing "Small, 30, will sign a one-year contract with a base salary of $500,000 but agent Rich DeLuca said the deal could be worth $1.1 million counting incentives."
• (W) Johnson's cap figure come from CBS Sportsline's article on his signing "Johnson, 29, signed a two-year contract that could be worth $3.3 million. It includes a signing bonus of $200,000 and base salaries of $500,000 for 2001 and $1 million for 2002. But where Johnson could earn considerably more is in playing time incentives worth up to $1.6 million over the two years of the deal. The incentive structure is triggered by just 50 percent playing time and tops out at $800,000 for participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps."
• (X) Signed draft pick's figures comes from Signing status of AFC 2001 draft picks (from CBS Sportsline)Note:Turner can make an additional $15,000 per year in so-called "not likely to be earned" incentives. Jones' deal features playing time incentives and salary escalators, rare elements of a contract for a fourth-round choice. "The 6-foot-6-inch, 299-pound defensive lineman from Georgia can make another $10 million in escalator clauses, but he would have be a Reggie White -type player to earn that over the life of the contract."
• (Y) I wonder if Lee Johnson is entitled to his entire salary since he was previously released by the Bengals during the 1999 season. Veterans are entitled to receive the yearly entire salary after being released during the season ONCE during their career.
• (Z) 3 weeks on the practice squad at $4,000 each and 15 weeks salary ($298,000 prorated) on the 53-man roster.
• (AA)7 weeks on the practice squad at $4,000 each and 11 weeks salary ($298,000 prorated) on the 53-man roster.
• (BB) 6 weeks on the practice squad at $4,000 each and 12 weeks salary ($298,000 prorated) on the 53-man roster.

According to my figures the Patriots are 397,907 OVER (THIS IS WRONG!!!) the 2001 cap figure of 67,405,000 and 5,596,334 UNDER 2002's projected cap of $71,700,000. Please note that RealTeam.com had reported on 11/12 that the Pats were under the cap by $648,000 and that Terry O'Neil reported that the Pats were under the projected 2002 cap figure by $6,520,000. So, I am off by about $1,000,000 and $600,000, respectively. Please note that I am working on reducing the discrepancy. I am wondering if Bert Emanuel was previously released in-season during his career. 18 of 22 starters from the 2000 season) are under contract for the 2001 season. 4 starters (Armstrong, Eaton, Slade, and Tony Carter) were UFAs.

Salary Cap Math - Using RealTeam's Salary Cap Figures
Current Cap Total for 68 players under contract and released players	66,757,000
Estimated Cap room needed to replace injured players during the season*****	750,000
Patriots Estimated Cap Cost	66,905,000
NFL Salary Cap for 2001	67,405,000
Maximum amount of cap space that the Pats can use without creating a need to cut a player, restructure a contract, or have a player agree to take a pay cut throughout the rest of the cap year in order to sign all of their draft picks, have a 53-man roster, a 5-man practice squad throughout the rest of the cap year, AND have a emergency reserve to replace players injured during the season.	500,000

***Since the Pats already have more than 51 players signed, the Pats should, IMO, not have to clear any more cap room by Draft Day since the rookie minimum is less than what the 51st player is making. The Pats will eventually need to clear up an additional $2MM in cap room in order to sign all of their draft picks. I am using $355,000 as a guesstimate since I am projecting that as Brock Williams' cap hit for the draft picks. He is expected to go on the IR so the Pats need to account for his entire cap figure when they make the cut down to the 53-man roster. Here are the 2001 cap figures for the 10 draft picks.

Player		Salary	Prorated Signing Bonus	7/24 Cap Hit    9/9 Cap Hit Status
Seymour	      1,200,000	  800,000	       1,611,000  $	2,000,000$$ Signed
Light           260,000   326,250		 197,250  $	  586,250$$ Signed 
Williams	209,000   142,500		 142,500   	  351,500$$ Signed
Jones           209,000    91,250		  91,250  $	  300,250$$ Signed 
Holloway        209,000    77,500		  77,500  $	  286,500$$ Signed 
Akbar           209,000    35,500		  35,500  $	  244,500$$ Signed 
Love            209,000    16,250		  16,250  $	  225,250$$ Signed 
Myers           209,000    13,750		  13,750  $	  222,750$$ Signed 
Pochman         209,000    11,500		  11,500  $       220,500$$ Signed
Turner          209,000     6,333		   6,333  $	  215,333$$ Signed
Totals	      3,132,000	1,520,833	       2,202,833        4,652,833

What happens if the Patriots can't get under the cap by 4PM EST March 2? The NFL Management Council would begin voiding player contracts, starting with the most recent, until the team is under the cap. I have also read that teams would be subject to a $1 million per day fine and could lose draft picks.

Future cap figures
Year	Number of Players (2001 Starters in Bold)	Cap Figure	Players
2002	45 (16)	66,203,666	Akbar, Andruzzi, Bledsoe,Brady, Brown, Bruschi, Cherry, Compton, Marc Edwards, Faulk, Glenn, Hamilton, Harris, Hill, Holloway, Huard, Izzo, Charles Johnson, Ted Johnson, Kenyatta Jones, Tebucky Jones, Katzenmoyer, Kelly, Klemm, Law, Light, Love, McGinest, Milloy, Moore, Myers, Nugent, Pass,Patten, Pleasant, Redmond, Robinson-Randall, Seymour, Terrance Shaw, Otis Smith, Stephens, Sullivan, Vrabel, Brock Williams, Woody
2003	32 (15)	71,673,870	Andruzzi, Bledsoe, Brown, Bruschi, Compton, Faulk, Glenn, Hamilton, Harris, Holloway, Huard, Izzo,Kenyatta Jones, Ted Johnson, Klemm, Law, Light, Love, McGinest, Milloy, Myers, Patten, Pleasant, Redmond, Robinson-Randall, Seymour, Smith, Stephens, Vrabel, Brock Williams, Woody
2004	19 (9)	57,035,560	Andruzzi, Bledsoe, Brown, Bruschi, Glenn, Holloway, Izzo, Kenyatta Jones, Klemm, Law, Light, Love, Milloy, McGinest, Myers, Patten, Seymour, Smith, Brock Williams
2005	6 (3)	45,317,000	Bledsoe, Glenn, Law, McGinest,Milloy, Seymour
2006	5 (2)	37,136,000	Bledsoe, Glenn, McGinest,Milloy, Seymour
2007	2 (0)	15,316,000	Bledsoe, Glenn
2008	1 (0)	12,000,000	Bledsoe
2009	1 (0)	13,000,000	Bledsoe
2010	1 (0)	14,000,000	Bledsoe

Salary Cap Definition

From CBS Sportsline: "The rookie allocation essentially is a pool within a pool, the maximum amount of salary cap space a team can budget to its draft picks and also undrafted free agents. It is a part of, and not separate from, the leaguewide $67.405 million spending limit per team."..."Because of the so-called "rule of 51" -- which stipulates that only the 51 highest-paid players on a team's roster count against its salary cap during the offseason -- clubs will not have to carve out the entire difference between their available cap space and rookie pool allocation. For the most part, teams' middle- and low-round draft choices don't rate among the 51 highest-paid players on the roster and make no dent in the salary cap." This year the Patriots' rookie pool allocation is $4.699 million.

NFL Minimum Salary Levels for the 2001 season

Rookie              	- $209,000
1 Credited Season   	- $298,000
2 Credited Seasons  	- $389,000
3 Credited Seasons  	- $418,000
4 Credited Seasons  	- $448,000
5+ Credited Seasons 	- $477,000

Rookie              	- $225,000
1 Credited Season   	- $300,000
2 Credited Seasons  	- $375,000
3 Credited Seasons  	- $450,000
4 to 6 Credited Seasons - $525,000 *
7 to 9 Credited Seasons - $650,000 *
10+ Credited Seasons	- $750,000 *

Quoting Section 6 of Article 34 of the CBA, "a player shall earn one Credited Season for each season during which he was on, or should have been on, full pay status for a total of three or more regular season games, but which, irrespective of the player's pay status, shall not include games for which this player was on: (i) the Exempt Commissioner Permission List; (ii) the Reserve PUP List as a result of a non-football injury; (iii) a Club's Practice or Developmental Squad; or (iv) a Club's Injured Reserve List."

Restricted Free Agency Tenders

(1 year contracts which must be offered in order for a team to retain a Right of First Refusal on a player with 3 Accrued Seasons whose contract is expired. )

1st Level. . . . .$  512,000 (team receives original draft pick in compensation)
2nd Level. . . . .$1,115,000 (team receives 1st round pick)
3rd Level. . . . .$1,488,000 (team receives 1st and 3rd round picks)

Quoting Section 1 of Article 18 of the CBA, "a player shall receive one Accrued Season for each season during which he was on, or should have been on, full pay status for a total of six or more regular season games, but which, irrespective of the player's pay status, shall not include games for which the player was on: (i) the Exempt Commissioner Permission List, (ii) the Reserve PUP List as a result of a nonfootball injury, or (iii) a Club's Practice or Development Squad."

How many accrued seasons a player has also affects his eligibility for the practice squad. According to the CBA, "the practice squad shall consist of the following players, provided that they have not served more than one previous season on a Practice Squad: (i) players who do not have an Accrued Season of NFL experience; and (ii) free agent players who were on the Active List for fewer than nine regular season games during their only Accrued Season(s). No player may be a practice squad player for more than two seasons.

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