FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Budget wizards can parse the spreadsheets any way they want, but one conclusion is clear: The Patriots offensive line is vastly overpaid.
New England has committed more than 20 percent of its salary cap space (about $30 million) to this position group. Only six teams have given more space to their offensive lines this year, and it seems highly unlikely the Pats will field a Top 10 unit in 2016. Pro Football Focus, for example, ranks the Patriots line 18th out of 32 teams.
It stands to reason that the Patriots would have to overpay somewhere. They do get bargains, spending less than all but one team on cornerbacks (PFF ranks that group fourth best in the league), and all but four teams at linebacker. But thanks to a salary cap maneuver with Nate Solder and the questionable signing of Marcus Cannon, New England is concentrating the bulk of its money in what might be its least-productive unit.
When the Pats extended Solder right before the 2015 season, it seemed like a wise move. Not only did they free up some space for last season, they also locked up Solder for 2016 and 2017. The $20 million deal, spread over two seasons, was almost entirely guaranteed. Had Solder reached free agency in 2016, he was likely to command more value than $10 million per year, so the price was right.
Then he suffered a biceps injury in October, costing him 12 games in 2015. The Pats could not have known this a year ago, but if Solder had reached the open market after missing 75 percent of the season, his value may have diminished. It actually worked out best for Solder, who took the safe money rather than risking free agency and guaranteed himself $20 million.
So, while Solder commands a third of the $30 million New England has invested in linemen, his money is the easiest to justify. The issues arise with tackles Sebastian Vollmer and Cannon.
Both Vollmer and Cannon are paid like starters, but only one of them can start. If both make the roster this year, Vollmer will earn about $5.21 million (the 10th highest salary among all right tackles) and Cannon will take home $4.75 million. There are only 22 left tackles in the NFL who are slated to make more money than Cannon this year. Roughly two dozen starting tackles will earn less than Cannon, who is expected to play off the bench.
If you think of Cannon as Solder’s backup, then the Pats are committed to spend more money on the left tackle position ($15 million) than any team in the league this year. If you consider him Vollmer’s backup, the Pats would be the highest-paid team at the right tackle position ($9.96 million). In a sense, he’s backing up both Solder and Vollmer. As a swing tackle who can capably fill in at either spot, Cannon is likely the first man up at right tackle if one of those starters goes down and moving to left if both go down. That enhances Cannon’s value, but does not justify his salary.
There’s a fair argument to be made that the Pats could (or should) cut Cannon. They would only have to count $1.06 million of his salary against the cap, netting them a $3.4 million cap savings. The problem is that the position becomes frighteningly shallow without him, and Vollmer is currently on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list. Unless lesser-paid and less-experienced players like LaAdrian Waddle and Cameron Fleming demonstrate an as-yet-unseen aptitude for the job, then Cannon will almost certainly remain on the roster as an overpaid backup.
It should be noted that New England’s offensive line guru, Dante Scarnecchia, has spoken highly of Cannon in the past and the Pats may believe he hasn’t reached his full potential.
In retrospect, it would seem the plan with Cannon was to groom him into a starter in the event that they couldn’t resign Solder or if they wanted to move on from Vollmer (now 32), who is in the final year of his contract. That’s likely the reason the Pats gave Cannon this deal in 2014. It made a lot of sense at the time, but history has not been kind to the decision. The Pats extended Solder, and Cannon has not been able to surpass Vollmer as a starter. As a result, the Pats are paying two players starter’s wages at the same position.
New England’s lopsided allocation of funds to the tackle position demonstrates the scarcity of qualified tackles in the NFL. They’ve overspent on the position to ensure some measure of depth, and they’ve also struggled to develop a first-contract talent who could surpass Vollmer at the position.
It also proves that even a franchise as adept at roster management as the Patriots are can’t get everything right. The commitment to Cannon and the inability to develop young talent on the line have left the Pats committing too much money to an area that’s yielding too little in return.
A healthy Solder and the return of Scarnecchia could make a huge difference for the line, and Tom Brady’s pocket presence tends to offset mistakes from the blockers, but with Jimmy Garoppolo under center for the first four games, it’s going to be imperative for the line to be at its best. The Patriots will have to hope they get their money’s worth.
(Dave Brown covers the Patriots for the Monitor. You can follow him on Twitter @ThatDaveBrown.)