The time has officially passed for Joe Thuney and the Patriots to make a new deal.
Despite the team’s stated goal of reaching a long-term deal that would bring down its franchise tag total number of $ 14.78M by 2020, Thuney is playing for that large sum this year.
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The “value” is the oil that allowed the Patriots machine to run smoothly for 20 years. Thuney on the label does not represent value.
He is the second highest paid guard in the league. The team has nearly $ 24 million between Thuney and fellow guard Shaq Mason. In eight months, when the Thuney deal ends, chances are you’re looking for a deal that starts at around $ 14 million.
If the Patriots don’t bet, and you’d think they probably won’t, Thuney leaves and the Patriots get a third-round compensatory pick the following year. Probably.
Thuney is one of the best in the business at his trade. But the reality is that the difference between a great guard and an on-duty guard is not as great as, say, a great quarterback, cornerback or wide receiver and one of those that can be repaired.
Not being able to replicate Thuney doesn’t mean they can’t replace him. So why not change it? Find a willing business partner, get that fixed compensation for the 2021 draft, free capitalization space, you know … does it play a value?
The senator wrote about Thuney on Wednesday and agreed to the possibility.
Greg Bedard of the Boston Sports Journal did much more than nod, advocating that it be the only sensible thing to do on Wednesday’s Felger & Mazz Show.
The problem with that idea?
Joe Thuney’s $ 14.78 million cap for 2020 travels with him. He’s a franchisee, the deadline to get him a new deal has passed and that applies to everyone, not just the Patriots.
So how many teams currently have more than $ 15 million in limit space? fifteen.
How many of those teams have far less than that space actually available as so few teams have finished signing their rookie classes (not to mention the litany of other fattening costs that accrue)? Many of them.
How many of those teams are going to be stingy as hell with their space knowing that the hit of a declining salary cap in 2021 can be reduced by passing the 2020 cap space? Each one of them.
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How many teams will think it’s wise to trade a second-round pick for a guard who is going to need a good deal in eight months, especially without a guarantee that he will resign? A couple? Perhaps. They say there is a fool who is born every minute. Four decades later, many of them end up as GM of the NFL. So never say never.
But Thuney in 2020 will likely be an exception to Bill Belichick’s value system. If a contested team feels like it’s a distance guard from the Super Bowl and the Patriots are dead in the water or have found a replacement for Thuney, then perhaps on the trade deadline the Patriots could do something.
They shouldn’t expect a second-round pick for a Thuney rental at the time. But it’s easier to imagine a team swallowing Thuney’s $ 923K salary per game with eight games left than it is now.
What is hard to imagine is that the Patriots are unhappy at the trade deadline and are looking to start playing by 2021.
The situation the Patriots are currently facing is unique.
Thuney is the Patriots’ best lineman. They’re going to run out of the ball. Legendary offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia retired. The first two seasons of left tackle Isaiah Wynn were marred by injury. The data center that David Andrews missed last season with blood clots in his lungs has to stop him by considering playing this season without a COVID-19 vaccine.
Most of the years, Thuney would be sitting on the trading block right now. This year? I wonder if they even put it there.
