Patriots Rumors: Amendola Cut? Trade for Revis?

Let the rumors begin.

We've all thrown around the idea of cutting or trading Patriots wide receiver Danny Amendola in order to free up cap space. However, trading Amendola won't save cap space; in fact, it would use up $645,000 in cap.

Dan Pompei at Bleacher Report, a professional NFL columnist for 20 years, notes that teams are hearing Danny Amendola is on the trade block. They believe there is a possibility that Amendola is cut if he is not traded.

Miguel at PatsCap has some numbers for you to review, and where there are scenarios of saving money. If Amendola is cut prior to the free agency period, with a June 2nd designation, then the team would save roughly $2.88mm. The June 2nd designation implies that Amendola is off the team, but his cap reduction doesn't come into effect until June 2nd. However, his 2015 dead money cap hit would be $3.6mm.

Alternatively, the Patriots could cut Amendola outright, without the June 2nd designation, and that's the original scenario that costs the team an additional $645k in 2014 cap. However, this would end his contract and his 2015 cap hit would be zero.

In reality, if the Patriots don't cut Amendola before free agency open on March 11th at 4PM, they're not going to cut him. The cap hit spikes for a straight-up cut after March 11th and it wouldn't make financial sense for a team playing with the cap limit. The team would likely still seek out a trade partner between March 11th and June 2nd as that represents the second most beneficial cap move.

If Amendola is on the team after June 2nd, he's going to be on the team for one more season, at the very least.

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Pro Football Talk is spinning their web of interest and have reported that the Patriots are a team potentially interested in acquiring Buccaneers cornerback Darrelle Revis.

Of course, Revis comes with a $16mm cap hit and is likely an extreme back-up in case Aqib Talib doesn't sign with the franchise. That said, if Revis is willing to restructure, and we're playing Madden, and we get both Talib and Revis? Well, c'mon now. That's a no-brainer.

Revis is playing out of role in the Buccaneers as the elite man-coverage cornerback has been playing more zone than makes any sense. And he was still outstanding. If he comes to the Patriots and is featured in more press looks, then there's no question that the Patriots secondary would rocket to the top of the league.

If Revis can restructure and the Patriots free up the necessary cap space, then ah never mind this is never going to happen.