2018 Patriots Roster

RedOctober3829

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 19, 2005
55,298
deep inside Guido territory
Given that this week is pretty boring in terms of stuff to talk about, I wanted to get a look of what the Patriots will be like in 2018 and what roster building they have to do. Contract numbers are per Spotrac and Miguel and I gave details on the ramifications of dead money if traded or released on guys that aren't on rookie contracts except the QBs because they aren't going anywhere. The team will carry almost $1 million in dead money from previous releases or trades. I may have some figures that don't include LTBE or NLTBE so I apologize but this is a rough overview of what the roster looks like going into free agency/draft.

Players Under Contract(by position) and Cap Hits
QB Tom Brady $22 million
QB Brian Hoyer $915,000

RB James White $2,437,500(dead money on '18 and '19 cap so he stays)
RB Mike Gillislee $2,181,250(no dead money on cap if traded or released)

FB James Develin $1.275 million

WR Brandin Cooks $8,459,000(no dead money on cap if traded or released)
WR Julian Edelman $4,666,666($2 million dead money if released. $0 if traded)
WR Chris Hogan $3.5 million (no dead money on cap if traded or released)
WR Phillip Dorsett $1,544,573( 2 years left on contract with no dead money)
WR Kenny Britt $1,468,750(no dead money)
WR Malcolm Mitchell $774,498

TE Rob Gronkowski $11 million(not going anywhere)
TE Martellus Bennett $6,187,500(no dead money on 18/19 caps if traded or released)
TE Dwayne Allen $5 million(no dead money on 18/19 caps if traded or released)
TE Jacob Hollister $555,000

T Marcus Cannon $6.05 million (too much dead money to release or trade)
T Antonio Garcia $781,538
T Cole Croston $557,000
T Andrew Jelks $555,000

G Joe Thuney $858, 357
G Shaq Mason $815,882

C David Andrews $1.65 million

DT Alan Branch $4.55 million(club option and $1 million in dead money if not picked up)
DT Malcolm Brown $2,422,392
DT Vincent Valentine $806,355
DT Adam Butler $556,656
DT/DE Lawrence Guy $3.10 million(too much dead money on 18/19 caps to cut or trade)

DE Trey Flowers $844,733
DE Geneo Grissom $705,000
DE Deatrich Wise $698,970
DE Keionta Davis $555,000
DE Eric Lee $555,000

ILB Kyle Van Noy $4,166,666($5 million in dead money if cut or traded)
ILB David Harris $2.75 million($625,000 in dead money if cut or traded)
ILB Elandon Roberts $655,089
ILB Nicholas Grigsby $630,000

OLB Dont'a Hightower $8,523,435(over $20 million in dead cap space over 18-20 caps if cut or traded)
OLB Shea McClellin $3.583 million(less than a million in dead money if cut or traded)
OLB Derek Rivers $783,724

CB Stephon Gilmore $12,506,250(not going anywhere)
CB Eric Rowe $1,100,435
CB Cyrus Jones $1,092,737
CB Jonathan Jones $633,334

S Devin McCourty $11,935,000(not going anywhere)
S Duron Harmon $3.5 million($3.75 million in dead money on 18-19 caps if cut or traded)
S Patrick Chung $3.8 million($800k in dead money)
S Jordan Richards $1,180,948

P Ryan Allen $2 million
K Stephen Gostkowski $5 million($1.5 million in dead money)
LS Joe Cardona $730,000

Key Free Agents
LT Nate Solder
CB Malcolm Butler
ST Matthew Slater
RB Dion Lewis
WR Danny Amendola
RB Rex Burkhead
ST Nate Ebner
RB/ST Brandon Bolden
LB Marquis Flowers
T Cam Fleming
T LaAdrian Waddle

Biggest Draft Needs
RB, LB, CB QB, OL, DL

Players I'd like to see Pats target
RB Royce Freeman, Oregon
CB Isaiah Oliver, Colorado
DE/OLB Ben Banogu, TCU
QB Mason Rudolph, Oklahoma St.
ATH Jaylen Samuels, NC State
DE Harold Landry, BC
LB Malik Jefferson, Texas
 

tims4wins

PN23's replacement
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
37,054
Hingham, MA
Just looking through your list, I think Branch and Harris are gone. Possibly McClellin too. He may be a retirement situation though, who knows.

Britt and Bennett on offense may be gone.
 

RedOctober3829

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 19, 2005
55,298
deep inside Guido territory
Just looking through your list, I think Branch and Harris are gone. Possibly McClellin too. He may be a retirement situation though, who knows.

Britt and Bennett on offense may be gone.
I agree on Harris, Branch, Bennett. McClellin may be gone too as you mention. Dwayne Allen is another guy who can be cut without any cap ramifications. Better add TE to the list of needs.
 

JokersWildJIMED

Blinded by Borges
SoSH Member
Oct 7, 2004
2,741
The interesting area to watch is the tackle position...awfully expensive to add, but with three looming free agents and Cannon hurt all year there is nothing to fall back on.
 

tims4wins

PN23's replacement
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
37,054
Hingham, MA
I agree on Harris, Branch, Bennett. McClellin may be gone too as you mention. Dwayne Allen is another guy who can be cut without any cap ramifications. Better add TE to the list of needs.
I think they keep Allen - I think they love his blocking and attitude / professionalism. But I could see them trying to bring him back at a reduced figure.
 

Super Nomario

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 5, 2000
14,012
Mansfield MA
Key Free Agents
ST Matthew Slater
RB Dion Lewis
WR Danny Amendola
RB Rex Burkhead
ST Nate Ebner
RB/ST Brandon Bolden
LB Marquis Flowers
It looks like Brandon King and Johnson Bademosi are FA too. That is a LOT of special teams contributions to replace - #2 (Bolden), #4 (Bademosi), #5 (King), #6 (Flowers) in ST snaps, and Ebner and Slater would have been similar if not for injury. Plus both return guys in Lewis and Amendola. I imagine some of these guys will be back, but that unit seems likely to take a hit. Only Jordan Richards and Jonathan Jones returning from the top six in snaps, and Jones will be recovering from injury.
 

DeadlySplitter

Member
SoSH Member
Oct 20, 2015
33,247
Allen is mediocre or worse at catching/routes, but excellent at everything else for a TE, and BB of course knows this and has used him that way. think he stays, even if it's a cut/restructure situation.

Butler's market is going to be interesting after last offseason's drama and his play this season. I won't rule a return out but it feels a bit less than 50/50 to me.

Lewis feels vital to me to keep, but BB seems to generate good RBs out of thin air, so maybe he gets too pricey and BB balks.
 

RedOctober3829

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 19, 2005
55,298
deep inside Guido territory
I believe you left out Ricky Jean-Francois from your list of free agents.
It would be nice to tally up the salary commitments for next year currently on the books, plus any guess at 2018 cap.
I did not list all the free agents. Just the ones that I think they'd think about re-signing or will be hard to replace if they let go. Guys like Harrison or RJF are not going to be back.
 

Kenny F'ing Powers

posts way less than 18% useful shit
SoSH Member
Nov 17, 2010
14,425
This exercise would be more useful if we had a ballpark of the salary cap.

Projections I've seen are between $174 - 178 million.
 

lambeau

Member
SoSH Member
Feb 7, 2010
1,175
Connecticut
Yes--Miguel says adjusted cap will be $180.5 M.
For only $4.99 you can see him break this all down in Monday's Boston Sports Journal mailbag.
He does not address Solder or Butler, but has as cuts Gillislee, Branch, Bennett, Harris.
Shows how he would restructure Amendola, Brady, and resign Lewis, Flowers, et. al.
 

Ale Xander

Hamilton
SoSH Member
Oct 31, 2013
72,429
Jordan Richards. He's close to being useless. Can't tackle. Frequently in poor position.
 

Morning Woodhead

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 16, 2011
967
Jordan Richards is just awful. Always out of position. Roberts is only slightly better because he can occasionally stuff a run
 

Mugsy's Jock

Eli apologist
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 28, 2000
15,069
UWS, NYC
Richards for me. And I don't care much for Kenny Britt, but will give him a shot to prove himself next summer.

I thought Bademosi was actually excellent on special teams. In retrospect though, losing Jonathan Jones was a real difference-maker.
 

OurF'ingCity

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 22, 2016
8,469
New York City
Neither Jordan Richards or Elandon Roberts really have any business being on the field as much as either was during this playoffs - they are just not good NFL players.
 

Super Nomario

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 5, 2000
14,012
Mansfield MA
Not the "player I want to see most off the Pats," obviously, but how do we feel about the chances of Dont'a Hightower getting through a complete season on the remainder of his contract (which still has about $30 MM, $13 MM guaranteed left)?
 

SeoulSoxFan

I Want to Hit the World with Rocket Punch
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jun 27, 2006
22,089
A Scud Away from Hell
It's after the SuperBowl.

The "Early Outlook" thread is re-opened and merged with the "One Player You Want to See Off the Patriots" thread.
 

shawnrbu

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 14, 2005
39,690
The Land of Fist Pumps
Allen is taking up way too much space for a blocking TE. If money needs to be freed up to bolster the front 7, then Allen, Gost and Cooks look like good candidates to trade or release. This is assuming Gronk is coming back and not retiring.
 

Ed Hillel

Wants to be startin somethin
SoSH Member
Dec 12, 2007
43,558
Here
Allen is taking up way too much space for a blocking TE. If money needs to be freed up to bolster the front 7, then Allen, Gost and Cooks look like good candidates to trade or release. This is assuming Gronk is coming back and not retiring.
Allen is a lock to be released. They save 5+ million cutting him and there’s no dead money.
 

lexrageorge

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2007
18,096
Allen is taking up way too much space for a blocking TE. If money needs to be freed up to bolster the front 7, then Allen, Gost and Cooks look like good candidates to trade or release. This is assuming Gronk is coming back and not retiring.
Cooks is likely restructured rather than an outright release. He played a lot better than Volin gives him credit for, and they do have some potential depth issues at WR: Amendola will be 33 and a UFA. Edelman will be 31 and coming off a serious injury; Hogan will be 30 and has struggled with injury this year as well. The prognosis on Mitchell's knee injury is still uncertain. Dorsett was an obvious bust. And we have no idea yet what's happening with Gronk, based on his statements after the game.

RB will be interesting given that Burkhead, Lewis, and Bolden all will be UFA's.

Biggest need remains LB: Van Noy, Hightower, and garbage just aren't going to cut it. Safety help wouldn't hurt either; I like Chung, but it would be nice to have someone else be able to step in that position in nickel/dime passing situations.

Last season's draft hurt them; between the Goodell/Vincent/Kinsel penalties, a promising Derek Rivers breaking his knee in training camp, and Garcia appearing unlikely to ever play an NFL snap (the Pats traded up to get him), their only contributing player was Wise, who was probably not fully recovered for the Super Bowl.
 

Ralphwiggum

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 27, 2012
9,824
Needham, MA
Was just going to write something similar. They gave up a first round pick for the guy, maybe he wasn’t quite the game changer they expected, but he’s not getting cut after one season in which he was pretty good. They probably would have lost the AFCCG without him.
 

jsinger121

@jsinger121
SoSH Member
Jul 25, 2005
17,676
Was just going to write something similar. They gave up a first round pick for the guy, maybe he wasn’t quite the game changer they expected, but he’s not getting cut after one season in which he was pretty good. They probably would have lost the AFCCG without him.
Plus his role changed a bit when they lost Edelman in the preseason
 

EL Jeffe

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 30, 2006
1,314
The front 7 needs a MASSIVE talent upgrade. For all the grief Patricia received, he really was trying to make chicken salad out of chicken turds. Harrison and Jean-Francois were late season street free agents, Eric Lee was a mid season practice squad sign, M. Flowers was acquired as a core ST piece. Elandon Roberts is Elandon Roberts. Brown, DHT, T. Flowers and KVN are pretty much the only guys you'd feel good about heading into next season, and none of them are true studs. Maybe DHT if he rounds back into form, but we'll see.

Wise showed some rookie flashes and maybe Rivers gives them some pass rush next year, but you have to figure they load up on front 7 dudes this offseason.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,375
Every year there are injuries, but the defense should be bolstered considerably simply by the additions of Hightower (their best LB), Rivers, and Valentine.

I'd spend the offseason re-signing Lewis and Burkhead (I think they were both terrific this year), getting Hightower, Rivers, and Valentine back healthy (McClellin too - that was not a minor loss), and adding LB and CB help. I'd also consider re-signing Harrison for another year. I thought he was strong. He played pretty well last night I thought - got the old Chandler Jones treatment on non-holding calls, but whenever they did get ANY pressure on Foles last night, Harrison was usually the guy creating it. Also, one more TE to replace the sure-to-be-cut Allen.

The roster is young. The Pats were the 7th youngest team in the NFL, and that's with Brady on the roster (Harrison's addition brought that up a tick I'm sure). There's a lot of room for growth. I wouldn't worry about the WR situation. One more year of this group (maybe not Dorsett) is fine: Edelman, Hogan, Amendola, Cooks, and hopefully Mitchell - that's a solid, solid group. Hoping Gronk is back and Hollister improves. The OL is probably in solid shape - hoping Cannon will be back healthy and rolling next year. Not sure what to do with Solder.

Need to draft another QB though - that will be a valuable chip they could use on defense.

I'm very curious to see what happens with the coaching staff as well. Patricia is gone, but I've heard rumblings that McDaniels may not follow through with Indy? Either way, major staff changes coming.
 

PedroKsBambino

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Apr 17, 2003
31,187
In terms of the front 7, Derek Rivers, Hightower, and likely McLellin were all supposed to be in the mix, plus a still-trying Branch. So I get what the plan might have been, at least. Since it failed in the end, and Branch is surely not back and McLellin a question mark to return at all, plus as SN notes Hightower with an over/under around 10 games, reinforcements are really needed there.

For me the single guy to go is Branch, who is not cheap and clearly stopped being useful. Among less obvious guys, I'd like to see Roberts gone---just don't see the role. Richards, for me, might be serviceable as a special teams guy and depth but if he has to play a lot of downs he is exposed.
 

heavyde050

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 17, 2006
11,257
San Francisco
I had mentioned similar thoughts in the GOAT thread and Game Thread.
The defensive has some good players coming back - Rivers, Hightower, Valentine, as well as McLellin and Jones.
The offense will be good as long as Brady is healthy. Keep Lewis and the receivers. Hope Gronk stays healthy. Garcia coming back to help the OL.
Looking forward to another championship run in 2018.
 

Leather

given himself a skunk spot
SoSH Member
Jul 18, 2005
28,451
Ok, so what free agents are going to be targets?
 

RedOctober3829

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 19, 2005
55,298
deep inside Guido territory
The cap, according to Spotrac, is $181 million. Spotrac has a new tool that allows you to manage the roster including cut players and it updates the available cap space. I cut Bennett, Allen, Gillislee, Branch, McClellin, and Harris. That updates the available cap space to $38.9 million.
 

Number45forever

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 16, 2003
1,970
Vermont
While the front seven desperately needs an influx of athleticism, I really hope they keep Harrison around. He's obviously not going to chase down RBs in coverage, but there's a place for him on the team. I thought he played well in the SB. Probably just Van Noy and Harrison, maybe McCourty. Everyone else sucked on that defense. They need speed because they haven't stopped a RB on a wheel route since 1974. Enough.

Going to be a fascinating offseason.
 

DeadlySplitter

Member
SoSH Member
Oct 20, 2015
33,247
I mean, we're going to be the SB favorites again despite last night and deserve to be. but you have to admit Bill fucked up the defense and will have to be better. more on the GM side than coaching I'd say.

Bill the GM may not be all that great. I don't think that's much of a hot take either.
 

Super Nomario

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 5, 2000
14,012
Mansfield MA
Are we seriously talking about guys like Rivers, Valentine, and McClellin making a big difference? How many games do we expect from Hightower?

This D is going to be bad for at least a couple years. They need a talent injection basically everywhere, because so much of it is terrible, and of their good players, McCourty and Chung are both north of 30, and Hightower is falling apart. This does not look like a group that is one offseason away. The young players could show remarkable improvement but if we're being real, probably almost every other team has more impressive under-25 defensive talent that is more likely to improve.
 

Ralphwiggum

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 27, 2012
9,824
Needham, MA
While the front seven desperately needs an influx of athleticism, I really hope they keep Harrison around. He's obviously not going to chase down RBs in coverage, but there's a place for him on the team. I thought he played well in the SB. Probably just Van Noy and Harrison, maybe McCourty. Everyone else sucked on that defense. They need speed because they haven't stopped a RB on a wheel route since 1974. Enough.

Going to be a fascinating offseason.
I think the fact that Harrison was in there as much as he was speaks volumes. Maybe he didn't suck as much as everyone else, but I struggle in saying he played well. Zero sacks and almost no pressures all game long, and also shredded in the running game. If he's back it better be as a situational pass rusher. If he's on the field as much as he was last night that's a big problem.
 

RedOctober3829

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 19, 2005
55,298
deep inside Guido territory
Are we seriously talking about guys like Rivers, Valentine, and McClellin making a big difference? How many games do we expect from Hightower?

This D is going to be bad for at least a couple years. They need a talent injection basically everywhere, because so much of it is terrible, and of their good players, McCourty and Chung are both north of 30, and Hightower is falling apart. This does not look like a group that is one offseason away. The young players could show remarkable improvement but if we're being real, probably almost every other team has more impressive under-25 defensive talent that is more likely to improve.
I do think that an infusion of pass rushers will go a long way in improving the defense. Foles had all day to throw the ball.
 

pedroia'sboys

New Member
Aug 26, 2007
640
Newington CT
I mean, we're going to be the SB favorites again despite last night and deserve to be. but you have to admit Bill fucked up the defense and will have to be better. more on the GM side than coaching I'd say.

Bill the GM may not be all that great. I don't think that's much of a hot take either.
He left himself light at linebacker given Hightower injury history and went into the season relying to much on Wise and Rivers. They needed another DE desperately.
Gilmore was a fantastic signing
They stole Van Noy.
The back end of the roster wasn't as strong as years past. I know butler was out for what ever reason but you can't play with both Lee's Richards and bendemosi in the superbowl. They got absolutely manhandled last night.
 

lexrageorge

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2007
18,096
I mean, we're going to be the SB favorites again despite last night and deserve to be. but you have to admit Bill fucked up the defense and will have to be better. more on the GM side than coaching I'd say.

Bill the GM may not be all that great. I don't think that's much of a hot take either.
You mean the same GM that brought the team 8 Super Bowl appearances and 5 Lombardi's in a salary capped league built for parity is "not all that great"? You need to come up with a lot more than one game to prove your last sentence correct.

Consider that the same GM lost 2 draft picks for no reason (one could argue for the 3rd being for no reason as well, but that's water well under the bridge by this point). This would have been an ideal season for those 2 draft picks as well.