Patriots

Patriots Release Aaron Hernandez- Some Cap Related Thoughts

Posted on by Jason Fitzgerald

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Surprisingly the New England Patriots waived TE Aaron Hernandez following his arrest Wednesday morning. His release creates a number of potential salary cap scenarios for the team.

Hernandez had earned $2.46 million in salary guarantees by being on the roster this past March. When a player is released that has guaranteed salary in his contact the full amount accelerates onto the salary cap immediately (actually at a present value level) regardless of the June 1 rule. The question here is whether or not the Patriots released Hernandez for a football reason or for conduct. Given that the team waited until he was arrested it makes me think the latter since no new details have come out from the first day this story broke until just now.

Being arrested may be enough to invoke the following reason for release:

“You have engaged in personal conduct which, in the reasonable judgment of the Club, adversely affects or reflects on the Club. “

That release should render the guarantees worthless and put the Patriots off the hook for Hernandez even if no teams claims him. Should, but doesnt mean it will especially if the player is innocent. Most likely this would end up in a non-injury grievance situation in which a panel will decide if the Patriots do or do not owe Hernandez the salary.

The trickier situation comes from signing bonus recovery of which $10.05 million is at stake. The CBA seems explicit in incarceration preventing a player from participating in team activities being the reason for forfeiture, and in this case Hernandez is still not guilty of any crime.

This would seem to be a legal matter and matter of interpretation. Once a breach occurs the NFL team still can terminate a contract and recover signing bonus money:

“The assignment and/or termination of a player’s contract after events triggering the forfeiture shall not result in any waiver of the assigning or terminating Club’s right to seek to recover the full amount of any forfeiture”

The question is does this constitute a breach?  A breach is defined in the CBA as

“Any player who… is unavailable to the team due to conduct by him that results in his incarceration;”

Clearly he is now incarcerated and technically in unavailable to the team so maybe that has given the Patriots all the ammunition they need to go after a signing bonus provided he does go to jail at a later date and miss time during any of the next 4 seasons. The forfeiture timeframe does not actually begin until 6 days into Training Camp, but perhaps as long as the actual breach during a League Year covering his contact the timeframe is independent of the breach action itself.the forfeiture provisions would also give the Patriots reason to hold Hernandez’ salaries even if guaranteed as a method of collecting repayment of forfeited bonuses.

Remember that these forfeiture provisions are all new in the current CBA, placed in there due to the Plaxico Burress and Michael Vick rulings that did not give ownership the right to recover bonus money, so this is a scenario that will likely be open to a lot of interpretation. Im sure someone much smarter than me will have an answer in the coming days.

As for how this affects the Patriots cap?  Because Hernandez is waived rather than released he will technically remain on the Patriots books for a 24 hour period. At that point he will either be claimed by another team or become a free agent. Once that occurs his salary cap number will drop from the Top 51 and he will move into the dead money category. Not knowing how the signing bonus recovery can occur the two basic scenarios right now look like this:

Scenario A: Guarantees Void/Claimed

2013 Cap- $2,632,000

2014 Cap- $7,500,000

Scenario B: No Guarantees Void

2013 Cap- $5,010,000

2014 Cap- $7,500,000

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Best & Worst Contracts: The New England Patriots

Posted on by Jason Fitzgerald

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A few weeks ago Jason LaCanfora published a list of best and worst contracts in the NFL so I thought it might make a good idea for us to do the same here at OTC, with a team by team approach. I’ll try to be a bit more analytical in terms of why money was paid and how it fits in the market, but the general premise is the same. The one key difference is outside of restructured rookie contracts under the old CBA we will only use veteran contracts as there is a big difference between best draft picks and best contracts.  Please note that there is a difference between a bad player and a bad contract when discussing some of the selections. Clicking on a players name will take you to his salary cap page.

Sebastian VollmerBest Contract:  Sebastian Vollmer

I know exactly what you are thinking. How is Tom Brady not the best contract on the team? For the short term Brady clearly is the best deal, but I have some reservations about guaranteeing $24 million and 3 years to a 38 year old QB, which is what will happen when Brady completes the 2014 season on the Patriots roster. In order to escape that deal the team would need to release Brady during the 2014 season and take a cap charge of $18 million in 2015 to do so.  Onto Vollmer…

At the end of the 2012 season there were a number of people that considered Vollmer a candidate for the franchise tag, as Vollmer had established himself as one of the five best Right Tackles in the NFL. The Patriots wisely avoided the large fees associated with the tag and negotiated a base contract that is 40% cheaper than Gosder Cherilus’ contract and 30% less than Andre Smith. Of the five big name RT’s to sign this year Vollmer had the cheapest deal of them all.

Vollmer, who has battled some injury issues in the past, has a contract loaded with incentives tied to playing time and performance. $2 million of his base value is tied to per game active roster bonuses and if he was to play 90% of the snaps his contract could reach $22 million and 90% will nearly max it out at $26 million. Even at $26 million his contract is still lower than Cherilus’ deal and these are not exactly fluff incentives to get there. In 4 seasons Vollmer has hit 90% one time, 80% two times, and less than 80% in his two other seasons. The expected value of the contract is probably no more than $5.5 million a year.

Vollmer is never a difficulty to cut. The only guarantees he received were from his $7 million dollar signing bonus. The deal contains no base salary guarantees. If he were to fail to maintain his form over the next two years he could be cut in 2015 with only $3.5 million in dead money and his dead money charge of $5.25 million in 2014 makes it feasible to release after just one season if necessary.  Vollmer will earn $8.25 million in his first year, less than all but Smith making a one year stay a possibility if the injury bug strikes again and the team decides he can’t be counted on long term.

Logan MankinsWorst Contract: Logan Mankins

This was a very difficult choice simply because the Patriots have more or less purged the books of bad deals.  They didn’t go overboard on the veteran contracts doled out and employ a large amount of mid-tier and rookie contract players so there is really little to choose from. Danny Amendola is my other real option here.  He has failed to ever produce 700 yards as a receiver, has missed 28% of his games due to injury, and was clearly signed with the thought that he can be “the next Wes Welker”, but I don’t think the price tag was high enough to warrant worst deal. At the worst he will probably be disappointing but he won’t hurt the cap or keep the team from moving on. Still on a different day I could be swayed to him.

Mankins was paid as the top interior lineman in the NFL in 2011 at a time when he was a good but not great player. He really has not returned to the great form and has basically been a decent starter on a team that could probably plug a low cost veteran in the position and not lose much effectiveness. At the same time his extension came at the tail end of the “every name free agent re-sets a market era”, so it’s not nearly as bad as other big deals we may discuss. The one factor in naming him worst over Amendola is that his 3 year payout and virtual guarantee was significantly higher than others at the time.

Mankins earned $30.5 million in the first three years of his contract, a total that was significantly over the market at the time. Other names that were signed or signed shortly thereafter contained three year totals of $25.6 million (Jahri Evans), $23 million (Eric Steinbach), and $21.5 million (Davin Joseph).  By giving Mankins a $20 million dollar signing bonus the Patriots virtually guaranteed that he will see at least four years of his contract due to the high acceleration charges associated with cutting him.

It’s certainly not one of the worst in the NFL but for the Patriots this is about as bad as it gets for just one player. If he has a poor 2013 the contract will be looked at a bit more critically by others since he is all but assured of a roster spot in 2014.

Check out Our Other Best & Worst Contract Articles

AFC East: Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, New York Jets (June 26)

Potential Salary Loss for Aaron Hernandez

Posted on by Jason Fitzgerald

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I mentioned the other day how the Patriots are well protected from Aaron Hernandez’ legal woes from a financial standpoint but with troubles mounting and speculation running wild I wanted to explain in a bit more detail what can possibly happen to Hernandez in  the event he is not available to the Patriots.

Guaranteed Salary

Hernandez’ earned base salary guarantees for 2013 and a partial guarantee in 2014 by being on the roster this March. Normally such guarantees would void is a player is suspended from the team either by the league or for personal conduct by the team, however Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reported that Hernandez’ contract is surprisingly missing language that would trigger that voiding of guarantees.

Does that mean anything?  Not really. Salary guarantees protect a player from skill, injury, or salary cap termination. They don’t protect a player for release due to personal conduct. Per the CBA a player can be released for the following:

“You have engaged in personal conduct which, in the reasonable judgment of the Club, adversely affects or reflects on the Club.”

So if Hernandez has put himself in a situation where he becomes more than a person of interest and an actual suspect in murder investigation or admits some participation in a crime there should be an avenue to release Hernandez and avoid the payment of his 2013 and 2014 salaries. That being said I think it is unlikely that they would release him.

There is little to be gained by releasing Hernandez. He is only set to earn $3.223 million in cash over the next two years, most of which is tied to actually playing football. Even though the contract is guaranteed he still needs to be on an active roster in order to earn his Paragraph 5 salary and I believe his roster bonus, which in his rookie contract was tied to being on the active roster and seems to have rolled over to his new contract.

Players suspended do not earn their salary. If Hernandez is placed on the Reserve/Suspended list by the league the guarantees mean nothing. The league has the ability to suspend a player and declare him ineligible for conduct so the Patriots would get the same protection from paying guarantees by simply petitioning the NFL to suspend Hernandez rather than releasing him under the conduct clause.

It should be noted that Hernandez is a good football player and we have seen good players go to jail in the past or be accused of some serious crimes and teams stand by the players. Ray Lewis and Jamal Lewis of the Ravens both faced significant legal troubles and neither was removed from the team.  Suspending a player allows the team to maintain his future rights and avoid payment of the contract. Cutting him does not maintain future rights.

So for every game that Hernandez fails to play due placement on Reserve/Suspended he will lose 1/17 of his base salary and $7,375 of a roster bonus in 2013, and 1/17 of his base salary in 2014. That is regardless of guarantees. The Patriots will receive immediate salary cap relief if suspended. Now we get to the bigger reason why the Patriots will keep Hernandez on  the roster.

Signing Bonus Forfeiture

Under the new CBA, failure to perform the duties of your contract due to incarceration triggers a forfeitable breach allowing a team to recover signing bonus money that has been paid but unaccounted for on the salary cap. Hernandez received a $12.5 million dollar signing bonus in 2012, of which only $2.5 million has been accounted for. That leaves $10 million in potential forfeiture for the Patriots to reclaim if Hernandez does not report due to being jailed. If jailed this year he can also forfeit $50,000 of his signing bonus he received as a rookie in 2010.

As of today Hernandez is guilty of nothing. The media stories do not look good but media stories not looking good and actual guilt are two very different things. If New England released him today it would need to be for skill, injury, or cap reasons. Once they release him for those reasons he keeps his signing bonus money and the Patriots face an acceleration of $10 million against the salary cap spread out over 2013 and 2014. In no way does that benefit the Patriots.

If placed on the suspended list due to being jailed the Patriots will recover 1/17 of his yearly signing bonus allocation for each game he is unavailable to the team to play football. So each year the team will recover $2.5 million, a significantly higher number than the base salary in question for the 2013 and 2014 League Years. Even if he plays out the 2013 season and is then jailed in 2014 the Patriots would pay him $1.523 million in 2013 for the opportunity to win back $7.5 million in bonus money. So for their own financial purposes they need to stand by Hernandez to allow the process to play out.

The Patriots still have an actual payment of $3.25 million to be made to Hernandez on that signing bonus which is not due until 2014. If the Patriots chose to release him for conduct they would likely withhold that payment which would lead to the grievance process putting things in the hands of an arbitrator to decide what money is an is not owed to Hernandez and what money can be reclaimed. The process is straightforward if they allow the system to play out if they believe jail will occur.

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Looking at the Contracts of Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez

Posted on by Jason Fitzgerald

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With the Patriots star Tight End duo in the news I figured I would do a quick once over of the details I had on their contracts to point out some of the options for the players in the event of the worst case scenarios and clear up some misconceptions about the guarantees in their contracts and potential future cap treatments.

Rob Gronkowsi signed an extension in 2012 that contained  about $13.2 million in full guarantees and another $5 million guaranteed for injury only. His cap numbers the next two seasons are very manageable at $2.75 and $5.4 million, neither of which rank in the top 10 of the position. His salary is fully guaranteed in 2014. The protection for the Patriots comes in 2015. Gronkowski’s base salary is guaranteed for injury only in 2015 and does not vest to a full guarantee until the 5th day of the 2015 League Year.

To collect on an injury guarantee Gronkowski would need to be incapable of playing in the NFL that season due to his injury, so provided he can pass a physical the Patriots can release him anytime between the end of the 2014 Super Bowl and the 5th day of the 2015 League Year with no financial penalties. If Gronkowski remained on the Patriots his cap charge would be $8.65 million, highest in the NFL, making it a unlikely number if he is a diminished player from all the injuries. If released prior to  the start of the league year his dead money cap charge will only be $3.3 million making it cost effective for the Patriots to release him.

The Patriots have even further protection in the form of a $10 million dollar option bonus due in 2016 in the event they want to give Gronkowski a look in 2015 even at the high cap number.  The option is unique in that it is accounted for against the cap starting in 2015 despite actual payment not being due until 2016.  The reason for this is that the decision date on the option is the final day of the 2015 League Year which occurs long after the season and Super Bowl are played. If the Patriots were to release him prior to the bonus the dead money in 2016 would only be $1.65 million and they would receive a $2 million cap credit for money accounted for but not paid in 2015.

So the fact is the Patriots have little to worry about when it comes to injuries with Gronkowksi from a financial standpoint. His cap hits are low the next two seasons and they have a large number of options in 2015 to move on with little financial penalty over the next two seasons.

Aaron Hernandez’ situation is a bit different as we are now looking at a potential off the field issue rather than an injury issue. I don’t think anybody knows what is really going on right now and its only fair to speculate that whatever is happening could prove to be a distraction to Hernandez. Hernandez already has a partial guarantee on his salary in 2014 and, unlike Gronkowski, no future options or vesting guarantees. He received a $12.5 million dollar signing bonus so the cost to release or trade next year would include $7.5 million in dead money just from that bonus.   If the situation proves to be serious and Hernandez is unable to play in the NFL the Patriots would have the right to recover money already paid earning credits each year he is unavailable to the team. So the Patriots have plenty of protection in the event of the worst possible scenarios as we wait to learn more about what this ongoing investigation is really about.

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The June 15 Tender and Victor Cruz

Posted on by Jason Fitzgerald

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One of those smaller rules in the NFL that very few people know about or, at the very least discuss, is the June 15 tender date for Restricted Free Agents that have yet to sign with their club. A RFA has a signing period in which he is able to negotiate with other teams. Once that deadline passes, usually a week before the NFL draft, the RFA is no longer truly free as his exclusive negotiating rights are assigned to the team that tendered him. This is done to avoid lengthy holdouts from a situation where a player really has no leverage.

The June 15 date is essentially the date on which an NFL team can impose a financial penalty on a RFA despite the fact that the player is not technically under contract. WR Victor Cruz received a first round tender  worth $2.879 million from  the New York Giants that he has failed to sign. On June 15 the Giants have the option to withdraw that offer and offer a new contract worth 110% of Cruz’ 2012 salary. Because Cruz only played for the minimum last season, $540,000, the 110% offer is actually lower that the required minimum salary so the Giants would need to offer Cruz $630,000.

If the Giants make this move Cruz potentially will lose $2.249 million in pay if the two sides can not come to terms on a contract and Cruz is forced to play on the June 15 tender.  That does not mean the two sides can no longer work out a contract, but it puts Cruz’ in a significantly worse position and could strain the relationship between the two sides especially if the Giants consider applying the franchise tag on Cruz next season and force him to play out his contract at $630,000. Nothing forces the Giants to make the June 15 tender and they can chose to leave the situation as it, but the Giants do get immediate cap relief once the offer is withdrawn and the new tender made.

If the June 15 tender is made the next dates to look at come during the preseason if Cruz fails to report to camp. At that point the Giants could place him on a roster exempt status which would limit the amount of games he could play during the season. If Cruz failed to report before week 11 he would be ineligible to play in 2013 and the Giants would retain his rights next season.

I tend to think because of the strange Percy Harvin dynamic in Seattle that there could be a large disconnect between the Giants valuation of Cruz and Cruz’ valuation of himself.  Normally slot receivers are paid at far lower rates than their outside counterparts but Harvin broke the mold with the lucrative extension he signed after being traded from Minnesota a few months ago.  Cruz has been very productive the last two years and can easily argue that he should be worth that much money, but it is hard to fathom more teams committing salary close to that level for a slot player, even one with the game breaking ability Cruz has.

Though these situations are rare I can think of three June 15 tenders in recent years where the players were forced to accept the low tender. In 2010, the uncapped year, a number of players who believed that were going to be Unrestricted Free Agents were actually RFA’s. The Chargers’ Vincent Jackson and Marcus McNeil and Patriots’ Logan Mankins were all players who fit into that category and resisted the notion of playing on the RFA tender. Both the Chargers and the Patriots removed the higher priced tender and replaced it with the June 15 tender. Jackson’s salary was reduced  to $682,000, McNeils to $630,000, and Mankins’ to $1.54 million. Each had been scheduled to make $3.268 million.

The Chargers were granted exemptions on both McNeil and Jackson making them ineligible to play for 3 weeks after they reported back to the team. McNeil returned to active duty in week 5, Mankins in week 8, and Jackson in week 10. McNeil’s situation ended amicably with the two sides agreeing on a contract extension worth close to $45 million dollars upon his activation in week 5. Jackson and Mankins were both given the franchise tag the following season. Mankins signed a long term contract with New England once the lockout ended while Jackson played the season out on the franchise tag before signing with the Buccaneers in 2012.

So the next few days may represent a real important period for Victor Cruz and the Giants. If that June 15 tender is made it could signal a very long summer. If the Giants allow the date to come and go it means they are probably going to continue to be accommodating to Cruz while they work on a contract with the next crucial dates coming during the Preseason.

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Preparing for the Future: The AFC East

Posted on by Jason Fitzgerald

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As we lead up to the draft I thought it might be fun to start looking ahead at some teams rosters and futures to help determine likelihood of trading down, good spots for undrafted free agents, and teams that will still be shopping in the bargain bin. We start with the AFC East:

Buffalo Bills

The Bills have 44 players under contract in 2014, which is the upper tier of the NFL. The only projected starters set to be unrestricted free agent are  C Eric Wood and TE Scott Chandler, while reserves RT Sam Young, OLB Bryan Scott, DT Alan Branch, and OLB Arthur Moats will also see free agency in 2014. I have the Bills estimated to carry around $107 million in cap charges in 2014, which is a pretty safe figure considering their roster size with likely cap casualties of WR/KR/QB Brad Smith and DE Mark Anderson either this summer or next season. Clearly the Bills are in desperate need of a QB  and could be a team that would look to move up if there was one they felt they loved and needed in round 1 or 2. Because the team seems to be set in a lot of positions this may not be a great fit for undrafted players unless they played the ILB position where the Bills are completely lacking or the OLB position where a prospect could show enough to eventually displace the players set to leave next season. That, of course, depends on the defense that the team runs. If they switch to a 34 Defensive end could be a more pressing concern. In terms of positional drafting QB, DE, and LB would seem to be major areas.  If any type of cornerback comes here they have pretty much no shot of making it.

Miami Dolphins

Miami looks to be an interesting team as they head into the draft. Clearly they were big spenders in free agency and they do have 41 players under contract next season with more than enough cap room for 2014, but they have a ton of projected starters and reserves whose contracts expire at the end of the 2013 League Year. The names include DT Paul Soliai, DT Randy Starks, CB Brent Grimes, G Richie Incognito, TE Dustin Keller, S Reshad Jones,  and S Chris Clemons. That’s nearly half of the projected defensive starters. The Dolphins have clearly been built as a win now team and with that in mind they are a team that could look to make an impact in the coming weeks. By 2015 the Dolphins only have 15 players under contract, 6th lowest in the NFL as of April 18th. They are already rumored to be trading for Branden Albert from the Chiefs, a bit of a strange move since they could have kept Jake Long for probably lesser money, so they would be out at least one draft choice to make that move. I’d imagine on draft day they want a player that they think can slot in right away and play for the team. Miami has a ton of draft picks and even if they trade two away will still have 9 picks in the draft. I doubt that will draft for anything but positional need with an eye on both this year and next year, specifically improving the secondary. Considering the moving of parts that could occur after this season I would consider this a decent landing spot for UDFAs to have a as low cost active roster players or Practice Squad players to get noticed and perhaps stick around in the future.  The one negative to signing with Miami is that with so many draft picks and big name new acquisitions it will be much more difficult for a UDFA to stand out.

New England Patriots

The Patriots essentially have no draft this year. They have late picks in the 1st thru 3rd round and then don’t pick again until the 7th round.  The Patriots have a large number of free agents after this season but only 4 project as starters. The team has 44 players under contract for 2014 and limited cap space. The Patriots I think would like to find a receiver and could also look for more interior linemen as both their center and backup are free agents next season. Given that the Patriots are a “now” team I could see them trading back or out entirely and trying to stockpile picks in the future. The team is going to have holes at ILB, WR, CB, C, and potentially DT in the near future making those areas of interest, but if they don’t see the payoff this year and a more desperate team comes calling Id expect the Patriots to play the trade game and wait to reload at a later date.

New York Jets

The Jets are clearly in the midst of a massive rebuild. The team only has 36 players under contract in 2014, 8th fewest in the NFL, and of those 36 many are not likely to be here during or after this season. Of their current projected starting lineup 5 offensive players are free agents after 2013 and 3 defensive starters will be free agents. By 2015 over half of the current projected starters will have their current contracts expire a number that does not include Mark Sanchez and Santonio Holmes, players who are as good as gone as soon as the cap allows. This is a long term plan with no real quick fix here. If you notice the Jets signed no long term deals this past offseason, the longest contract running all of 3 years. The Jets did not go off the deep end restructuring contracts and did not extend the terms of Antonio Cromartie’s contract for added cap relief nor get deeper on C Nick Mangold for a quick fix in 2013. They did not seem to approach a number of former starters about coming back, including Dustin Keller and Mike DeVito, both of whom signed reasonably priced contracts elsewhere. Those are often signs of a team  with plans of jettisoning a number of players and playing the compensatory pick game as best they can. The Jets are trying to move CB Darrelle Revis and with all the holes on the team there is no reason why they should not do it. This is a long term rebuild which means a ton of draft selections are of the utmost importance and it’s a great home for UDFA’s. The only position where the Jets will have stability is at the DE position where Muhammad Wilkerson and Quinton Coples look like long term building blocks. Otherwise this is a clear BAP draft and I would think the Jets will actively shop players, both big name and small name, all summer long.

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Steelers Match Offer Sheet for Sanders; Could they Consider Trade?

Posted on by Jason Fitzgerald

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As reported in multiple places tonight the Pittsburgh Steelers decided to match the Patriots $2.5 million dollar offer signed by WR Emmanuel Sanders. The Steelers now have a binding agreement with Sanders and he is no longer a free agent. I admit that I was a bit surprised that the Steelers matched the offer due to their cap position and the fact that absent a long term contract Sanders will simply become a free agent after the 2013 season.

With that in mind I wonder if the Steelers would now approach the Patriots about a trade for Sanders. The whole process is in many ways a game of poker. The Steelers showed part of their hand when they placed the $1.323 million dollar tender on Sanders. The Patriots revealed their hand when they placed a number value on him that fell in between that of a 1st and 2nd round tender. Now the question is would the Steelers take that knowledge and go back to the Patriots and offer the Patriots Sanders for a 2nd round pick or a combination of other draft choices?

For as good as the Patriots are their receiving corps. is in a bit of disarray. Leading receiver Wes Welker is gone to Denver and Brandon Lloyd wore out his welcome and was let go after just one season. They replaced Welker with the upside of the younger Danny Amendola but Amendola is a walking injury, having played in just 12 games the last two seasons. TE’s Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowksi missed 11 games combined last year and both are injury concerns, with rumors out there that Gronkowski could miss the entire preseason. That leaves the Patriots with veteran Michael Jenkins as their most reliable receiver, a player who never once topped 800 yards in a single year. Backups Julian Edelman and Donald Jones have missed 10 and 12 games respectively over the last two years, with both finishing the 2012 season on injured reserve.

The Patriots have gone down the chasing of a RFA and trade route before when they acquired Welker from the Miami Dolphins in 2007. The Patriots had indicated that they were going to sign Welker to an offer sheet and the Dolphins seemed to make it known they would match a standard offer rather than take back the 2nd round compensation. Rather than going through the process the Dolphins and Patriots worked out a trade in which the Patriots gave up a 7th rounder in addition to the 2nd rounder to acquire Welker. It proved to be one of the great trades in the NFL as Welker had a great career in New England while Miami struggled to find competent receivers. the Patriots do have two 7th round picks this year that could be used in a trade.

Because the Patriots has signed Sanders to an offer sheet the trade process becomes a bit more convoluted as Sanders now essentially has a no-trade clause to the Patriots. Per the terms of the CBA Sanders can only be traded to New England if he agrees to such a trade. This little known rule came into play in 2009 when the Jets had matched an offer sheet from the Cleveland Browns to S Abram Elam. The Jets later included Elam in a draft day trade with Cleveland in which they acquired the right to draft QB Mark Sanchez. Without Elam’s consent the trade could not have happened. Also if traded before the 19th the NFL Players Association would also need to approve of the trade in addition to Sanders. While I don’t think that would be an issue, considering he signed with the Patriots in the first place, but it is a factor to consider when going the wild speculation route.

I’m sure we will get a better idea in the next 24-48 hours if the chasing of Sanders is over, but this is just another thought to consider when working through the planning process of managing your roster and trying to extract the most value you can from your players

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