The Patriots weren’t part of one of the most memorable offseason Wednesdays in league history, but they have been busy behind the scenes.
There’s more salary cap space in New England thanks to Tom Brady. The quarterback restructured his contract last week to provide the Patriots with more than $7 million in extra room for the 2012 season. Brian McIntyre reports that Brady converted $4.8 million of his base salary and $6.25 million of other bonuses into a signing bonus that can be prorated over the last three years of Brady’s contract.
Brady’s cap number for 2012 dropped from $15.2 million to $8 million, although it went up to $21.8 million for 2013 and 2014. The Pats weren’t in any particular cap trouble before the restructuring, although the extra cap space certainly didn’t hurt as the team loaded up on free agents over the last week. They have added eight free agents, including wide receiver Brandon Lloyd and guard Robert Gallery, to the roster so far this offseason.
Thanks to the Brady restructuring, there’s still room to add more players to the mix. With extra space for this season, the Patriots could front-load a contract for another free agent or stick to their plan of adding smaller pieces to complement the AFC Championship roster from last season.