NFL salary cap projected to rise to $130 million

Nancy Lane/ Boston Herald
Good news this morning for a Patriots team in dire need of some cap space.
While this represents only a minor bump up from previous projections (which had the cap settling between $126 and $128 million), it provides some crucial breathing room for the Patriots. Under a $130 million cap, the Patriots would currently have $7,348,254 in cap space, up from earlier projections of $3.9 million.

It's not a lot, but that extra breathing room could become crucial. $7 million could very well be the yearly average for a new contract for Aqib Talib (ESPN Boston's Mike Reiss projects 3 years, $21 million). While this would leave the team dangerously close to the spending limit, there are a number of ways the Pats can open up space to make more moves.

For starters, a number of veterans will likely become expendable because of their cap charges. Cutting Dan Connolly, whose play hardly warrants his $4 million cap hit, would open up $3 million in room. Is Steve Gregory really worth a $3.6 million cap hit with Duron Harmon nipping at his heels for playing time? Cutting him gives you $2.8 million to play with. Saving $2.5 million by cutting Isaac Sopoaga, who was a healthy scratch by the end of the year, is a no brainer. Other vets who could be in jeopardy include Tommy Kelly (I think they keep him, but cutting him saves $2.1 million) and Adrian Wilson ($1.1 million in savings).

Furthermore, the Pats have several cap numbers that they can likely reduce through negotiation. Devin McCourty's enters his contract season with $5.11 million hit, but that could be lowered by signing him to a contract extension, ensuring that the All Pro safety stays in New England for the prime of his career.

Vince Wilfork is due $11.6 million, second highest on the team, in the final season of his contract. It would be highly surprising to see the team pay him that kind of hit while in this kind of cap conundrum, but it would also be very surprising to see Vince in another uniform next season. If Vince is progressing well in his rehab from achilles surgery, the team will likely sign him to an extension, keeping their defensive captain and locker room leader for the rest of his career. In the unlikely scenario that the Patriots feel Big Vince is damaged goods, they can cut him and save $8 million.

Other veterans who the Pats could look to renegotiate with are Logan Mankins ($10.5 million cap hit), Jerod Mayo ($7.28 million) and Stephen Gostkowski ($3.8 million), with Gostkowski a candidate for an extension before his contract year.

Finally, the Patriots could gain $7.5 million in space if they can find a way around paying the appropriately named dead money owed to Aaron Hernandez. Hernandez's cap charge of $7.5 million is the fourth highest on the team, despite the tight end's current incarceration and impending trial on murder charges. Owner Robert Kraft has already said the team will seek relief from those charges from the league, and the team prepares to argue that Hernandez's contract was guaranteed for skill and injury, but not for personal conduct deemed to adversely affect the club. It's unclear whether the Patriots will actually manage to recoup that money, although charges in the unsolved 2012 double murder in which Hernandez is a suspect could go a long way towards their legal case.

It's unclear how much money the Patriots will ultimately be able to free up this offseason, as there are too many moving parts right now to predict. However, at the very least this new cap projection gives the Patriots a little more breathing room, opening up nearly $4 million in additional space without any additional roster moves. In such a critical offseason, the Patriots will take whatever space they can get. This wont enable the Pats to go on a wild spending spree, they are still near the bottom of the league in cap space as things currently stand, but this could free them a little more money to make a couple of solid additions to next year's team.



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