Chat with Miguel at Patscap.com: Big thanks Miguel!

[SeoulSoxFan]

Miguel, who runs the superlative Patscap.com and is generally considered the go-to source for anything Patriots cap-related, has kindly agreed to do a chat with us. 
 
Date & time is still yet to be decided (looks like a weekday after 4pm for now), but please post your questions below. 
We're hoping for a very informative session about how caps work in general, as well as specific player-by-player cap implications as we continue through the FA period. 
 
Start posting your questions below, and don't forget to spread the word on Patscap.com and follow him on Twitter: @patscap
 
Thanks all!
 
 

 

[Dogman]

Awesome.  Nice work setting this up.

 

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

Thanks for doing this chat, Miguel! I've been following your work for years.
 
A couple questions that I wanted throw out to you:
 
1. It seems to me like there is a trend toward contracts including less fully guaranteed or effectively fully guaranteed money, especially in the form of up front signing bonus or very early option bonuses, such that the vast majority of players become realistically cuttable after 2-3 years at the most.  But the Mayo, Wilfork, and Mankins contracts stick out to me as different.  It would have been hard to cut any of those guys for at least four years of their deals due to big signing or early option bonuses.  Were the Patriots behind the curve, making mistakes with those deals?  Or do you think those deals reflected a different organizational philosophy that is likely to continue?
 
2. How do you think current projections about rises in the cap in coming years (I've read an estimated $150 unadjusted cap by 2016) are affecting decision-making by the Patriots and other teams around the league?
 
3. Thinking generally, what are the most important trends that you've noticed in terms of the structure of NFL contracts that have emerged with the new CBA?

 

[JimBoSox9]

Hey there, Miguel, very very cool of you to stop by.  I was wondering if you could explain the NFL salary cap system to me.  Thanks!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
.....I'm serious, though.

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

Hey there, Miguel, very very cool of you to stop by.  I was wondering if you could explain the NFL salary cap system to me.  Thanks!
 
.....I'm serious, though.

 
Well, I guess you can start here:
 
http://patscap.com/capsources.html
http://patscap.com/faq.html

 

[ShaneTrot]

Hi Miguel,
 
The Pats successfully recovered money from Fanene, now they are going after some cap relief from Hernandez. What is the mechanism they are using? I am a fan so I want them to have more money to spend but it feels dirty, they signed the contract, they cut him and they should take their medicine.
 
Is the Cowboys' cap management, the worst you have ever seen?
 
What is the worst contract in the Kraft era? Which is the best?
 
The Pats have a young roster, willl they be able to keep all their young stars like Solder, Chandler Jones, and McCourty?
 
Thanks for the chat and providing such a valuable resource.

 

[DennyDoyle'sBoil]

What exactly is an option bonus? I understand in general what it is, but can you give an example of how a team might use one in order to gain cap relief or defer a cap hit?

 

[amarshal2]

 
Well, I guess you can start here:
 
http://patscap.com/capsources.html
http://patscap.com/faq.html

Good link from his links page:
http://www.askthecommish.com/salarycap/FAQ.aspx

 

[soxfan121]

Hi Miguel, thank you for doing this. We really appreciate it and regularly use your site as a primary source. 
 
1. Can you explain the difference between a "restructure" and a "new contract", specifically how they affect the cap? Please use an example like Brady and/or Wilfork and Tommy Kelly. 
 
2. Can you explain the 5-year amortization rule and why Wilfork's negotiations were difficult for the team and player because of it?
 
3. Similar to the question above, it seems like the Patriots do "real" deals that don't have funny-money years (contrast between Browner or Arrington's deal and Talib's deal with Denver). Why do teams use these inflated deals? Does the Patriots way of structuring deals make your life (as the capologist) more or less difficult?
 
4. Regarding Logan Mankins - if his play does not decline in 2014, does it make sense to cut him? And can you briefly describe how his contract "works" after the signing bonus amortization finishes? 
 
5. Why do the Patriots favor NLTBE bonuses and has this approach had negative cap consequences? 
 
6. Can you explain the rollover provision in the CBA and why the Patriots "don't spend to the cap"?
 
7. Is the cap "crap"? Or, is it more accurate to say that prudent financial management will prevent shortfalls whereas spending like a drunken sailor will eventually lead to having to spend time in "cap jail"?
 
8. Can you explain the cap floor/minimum spend provision in the CBA? How does it influence how the Bengals do business? The Raiders?
 
9. What are the cap ramifications if Vollmer does not recover from his broken leg?
 
10. Has the team (anyone) ever reached out to you to either correct information or to complain or, well anything? Why do you spend so much time and effort on the site? (not that I'm complaining - your site is the go-to resource on Pats contracts) What is your favorite contract clause and/or quirk? Ever had any agents contact you to correct or dispute your information?
 
Thank you very much for taking the time to answer some, any or all of these questions. 

 

[Tito's Pullover]

I'm just this offseason learning about incentives, NLTBE/LBTE and the various cap implications of each.

My understanding is that LTBE incentives count against the current year's cap, and NLTBE incentives, if acheived, count against next year's cap.  What happens if a LTBE incentive is actually not earned?  Is there a credit to roll forward to next year's cap, or does that cap money disappear?

What criteria determines whether or not an incentive is likely to be earned?

 

[SMU_Sox]

This is truly an honor, thank you. If you could change one rule what would it be? If you could create a rule what would it be? (Referring to cap rules) If you don't mind elaborating why that would be much appreciated.

Last one - who are the top 2 or 3 worst franchises for cap management? I'm curious here if your answer will not include the Redskins or Cowboys.

 

[JohnnyK]

Thanks for doing this chat!
 
Has any team ever contacted you for help on cap calculations/simulations?
 
If you could redo one current Pats contract based on what you knew about the player at the point of signing, which would it be   and how would it be different?
 
And finally (no offense ment) - your site is an amazing resource, but have you ever considered making it a little more user-friendly and visually appealing?

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

Per Miguel: "Great questions"
 
Date & time is also set: next Tuesday, April 8th at 6pm. 

 

[patscap]

• I am going to answer some of these excellent questions ahead of time

I have never been asked by a team for help.
Ian and I do plan to make the site more user-friendly and visually appealing. It has been difficult for us to coordinate our schedules. He and I live in different states. I started the page when I used dial-up so I wanted to make the pages easy to download. 
I have a couple of blog posts that answered some of the questions
http://www.patsfans.com/salary-cap/?p=395 talks about LTBE/NTLBEs.
http://www.patsfans.com/salary-cap/?p=297 talks about Aaron Hernandez's cap implications.
http://www.patsfans.com/salary-cap/?p=213 explains the restructure concept
I do consider the Cowboys to be the worst managed team in terms of the cap.

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

Hey Miguel,
 
Thanks again for dropping by. We all appreciate it very much. 
 
You've been doing this for a long time -- I have two questions about that:
 
1) What have you seen in the last several years that has been different in Pats approach to cap management? Do you see a vastly different style in say, when pre-, during, and post-Pioli periods? 
 
2) What got you interested in devoting time & effort in maintaining a cap page, even when virtually no one else was doing so? Is there a specific story or background that got you interested in this stuff?
 
3) Besides your excellent FAQ pages, do you recommend any other resources for cap-novices like myself?
 
Thanks again -- I'll hang up and listen.

 

[patscap]

Do I just enter the chat room?

 

[patscap]

I am in the chat room

 

[Ed Hillel]

Hi Miguel, I think usually these "chats" are just done in this thread. Kind of like how Reiss does it. The chat room is full of some very freaky and weird people, like Rev, so I would advise against that!
 
If you hit the "quote" button below a post in here you can respond to that question. Or you can just respond free-form, we will all appreciate very much either way.
 
Thanks again!

 

[patscap]

Thanks!!

 

[patscap]

Yes, I have seen the Patriots take a different approach to their contracts over the years. Since the new CBA in 2011 they have used more 46-game active roster bonuses than they have had in the past. They have also increased their use of incentives.

 

[Ed Hillel]

I have a quick question I will throw into the mix:
 
When calculating NLTBE and LTBE, is it a black and white line based on the immediately preceding year's stats? Or is there something else that goes into it? Also, is there a limit to the amount of money that one team can spend in any given year on NLTBE clauses?
 
Thanks!

 

[patscap]

A great resource to learn about the cap is
http://in2theleague.wordpress.com/category/nfl-cba-series

 

[patscap]

Yes, Ed, The LTBE/NTLBE delimiter is usually based on last year's stats. There are some incentives like Vince's weight bonus that are always considered LTBE because they are in complete control by the player.
There is no limit to incentives.

 

[patscap]

I do not consider the Patriots to have behind the curve with the Mayo, Wilfork, and Mankins contracts. They were typical of the contracts given out during the 2006 CBA era. Patriots contracts have changed since then.

 

[patscap]

Why did I start my cap pages? Because in 2000/2001 I was always reading in the papers, Patriots Usenet newsgroups, Internet forums different cap numbers for the same player. That did not make sense to me. So I thought that if I created a web page it would help clarify the salary cap for my fellow Patriots fans.  

 

[Ed Hillel]

I'll throw another one in:
 
Do you have a background that lends itself to this kind of work, or did you educate yourself for the most part and learn it on the fly? Maybe a mixture of both?

 

[patscap]

While I have some Google Ads on my pages, what I make from them in a year (between $100 and $150) does not come close to compensating me for my time. Why do I do this?
 
1.) to help my fellow Patriots fans understand the salary cap better. Let's just say that when I started my cap pages I thought that the Patriots beat writers could have done a better job of explaining the salary cap to their audience.
2.) to raise money for my chosen charity.
3.) personal satisfaction

 

[patscap]

Ed, I was always good at math. Majored in Economics. While I am an intuitive thinker, I am a very detailed person.

 

[patscap]

Do I think that the Patriots will be able to keep all of their young stars?
 
Simple answer - no.
 
Why? They have a lot of good young talent that will be hitting free agency at the same time. Hightower, Chandler Jones, the entire 2013 draft class and the 2013 UDFAs, will become UFAs in the same offseason (2017).  If the cap continues to rise at a large rate, see no reason why those players would agree to commit themselves to the Patriots long-term with uncertainty at the quarterback position.

 

[patscap]

Why do teams do "funny money" deals? Why not? Does not hurt them. Probably helps them build relationships with the player and the player's agent.
The Patriots have been rather easy to cover for me. Their deals are rather easy to figure out the cap numbers as long as the media reports the details correctly. I do not have access to the NFLPA's numbers. I was asked if teams have ever asked for help. No team has ever asked me for help. While I know that some writers use my cap pages a great deal, no writer has ever directly asked me for help.
 
Can the use of NLTBE incentives have negative cap consequences? Yes. A reached NLTBE incentive adversely impacts a team's cap in two ways. Lowers the team's adjusted cap number the following year while also increasing the player's cap number for the following year.
 
Let's use Vollmer as an example. Let's presume that he plays in 95% of the offensive snaps in 2014. For simplicity sake, let's also pretend that no other Patriot had incentives in their contract. By playing in over 90% of the offensive snaps, that would mean that he reached his 2 million NTLBE playing time incentive. Let's assume that the 2015 cap is announced to be $140 million. The Patriots adjusted cap number would be decreased by the $2 million making it $138 million. Because he reached the incentive in 2014, the 90% playing time would be considered LTBE for 2015 increasing Vollmer's cap number from $4.5 million to $6.5 million. That reached NLTBE incentive just lowered the Patriots 2015 cap space by $4 million.

 

[patscap]

In 2013 the Patriots spent in cash more than the $123 cap limit so I do not understand the notion that the Patriots do not spend to the cap

 

[patscap]

After Mankins' amortization ends, cutting him would mean no dead money on the Patriots cap.

 

[patscap]

Since I know that my cap page is read by a good number of Patriot player, I am proud to say that no agent has ever contacted me to correct information.

 

[patscap]

3 more minutes.

 

[patscap]

I like to thank everyone for their questions. I hope that this has been helpful.

 

[Ed Hillel]

Miguel, thanks so much for your insight!