Getty ImagesWe?re not surprised by the rumor that the Patriots could cut receiver Chad Ochocinco or defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth before the start of the regular season.� Four years ago, a similar rumor was making the rounds at about this same time regarding receiver Randy Moss, another big-name veteran whom the Pats had acquired for a mid-round pick and a restructured contract that paid out, in relative terms, peanuts.
But Ochocinco isn?t making peanuts.� Despite multiple reports that Ochocinco?s restructured contract has a non-guaranteed base salary of $1 million for 2011, multiple sources with knowledge of the contract advise PFT that Ochocinco received a signing bonus in the amount of $4.75 million and a workout bonus worth $250,000.� (This year, due to the absence of an offseason workout program, workout bonuses were earned simply by reporting for work.)� And so if the Patriots decide to cut Ochocinco, they will have sacrificed the draft picks (fifth-rounder in 2012 and sixth-rounder in 2013) that were sent to Cincinnati for his services, along with $5 million.
Though the base salary doesn?t become guaranteed until Week One, cutting Ochocinco before the start of the season would permit him to keep the $5 million and then to sign with a new team, keeping the money he got from the Pats and the money he?d get from his next team.� And so, as we reported the day the deal was done, Ochocinco will still make $6 million for 2011, if he?s on the New England roster as of Week One.� (If he isn?t, he?ll make $5 million plus whatever his next team would pay.)
In all, Ochocinco?s new three-year deal has a base value of $12.2 million.� With incentives tied to receptions and Pro Bowl appearances, he can make another $5.3 million.
None of this means that the Pats won?t cut Ochocinco.� But if the goal is to dump him within the next four weeks in order to send a message to the locker room, it would be one hell of an expensive lesson.
As to Haynesworth, the Pats would lose only their fifth-round pick in 2013 by cutting him.� Haynesworth received no bonus money, and his base salary of $1.7 million doesn?t become guaranteed if he?s not on the Week One roster.
Of course, this doesn?t mean Haynesworth will be cut.� The purpose of the rumor could be to ensure that Haynesworth and/or Ochocinco are fully committed for 2011.� If that?s what the purpose of the rumor was four years ago regarding Moss, it definitely worked.
UPDATE:� Actually, Ochocinco earned the $250,000 workout bonus from the Bengals.� So the Patriots are paying him only (only?) $5.75 million.
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