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How the 2016 Rookie Pool will work for the New England Patriots

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With Brian McFarland’s @Ravenssalarycap permission I am using his fine work at
http://russellstreetreport.com/2014/05/06/baltimore-ravens-salary-cap/an-explanation-of-how-the-rookie-salary-cap-really-work/
as a template for this blog post.

On May 3 the Boston Globe’s Ben Volin tweeted that the New England Patriots’ 2016 rookie pool “is $5,094,472”. This is an oft misunderstood number, because while it is part of the team’s Salary Cap, it does not have a dollar-for-dollar impact on the team’s overall Salary Cap.

The Rookie Salary Cap is often referred to as “a cap within a cap” because it limits the amount that teams can allocate to their rookies in the year they were drafted (and over the life of the rookies’ contracts).