Report: New England Patriots will release wide receiver Brandon Lloyd

The New England Patriots have opted to release wide receiver Brandon Lloyd, according to the Boston Herald's Jeff Howe.

The team had until the end of Saturday to decide whether to pick up his $3 million roster bonus for the 2013-14 season. Lloyd spent just one season with the Patriots, catching 72 passes for 911 yards and four touchdowns after signing a three-year, $12-million contract last offseason.

He was due to make $1.9 million in salary, but the $4.9 million against the cap that New England would have been charged was apparently too steep of a price.

https://twitter.com/jeffphowe/status/313005576110096384

The team attempted to restructure Lloyd's deal and were "50-50" on whether to release him, according to CSNNE.com's Tom Curran, who provided details of the previous deal.

As it stands now, Lloyd is due to make $1.9M in salary. He also has a $100,000 workout bonus and $1.5M in "Not Likely To Be Earned" (NLTBE) incentives.

Lloyd's $3M signing bonus was split into three $1M payouts, he's already received one and the next two were deferred until March 31 of 2013 and 2014.