Updated Patriots Salary Cap After Rex Burkhead Restructure

On Tuesday, the New England Patriots restructured the final year of running back Rex Burkhead's contract. The restructured deal gave him a $550,000 signing bonus, and dropped his base salary from $2.5 million to $1.05 million, with $400,000 available in roster bonuses, which is down from the $500,000 he previously had available in that category, according to ESPN's Field Yates. The move created $981,250 in cap space for New England.

Source: the Patriots and RB Rex Burkhead have agreed to a reworked final year of his contract. Burkhead gets $550K to sign and drops his base salary from $2.5M to $1.05M, with $400K available in roster bonuses (down from $500K). The move creates $981,250 in cap space.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) July 7, 2020

After signing quarterback Cam Newton to a one-year, $7.5 million contract on June 28, the Patriots had just $263,489 in available cap space. Following Burkhead's restructure, the team now has $1.24 million, according to Patriots cap expert Miguel Benzan.

My new Patriots salary cap space number is $1,244,739 https://t.co/IEb9rZJh11
— Patscap (@patscap) July 7, 2020

Burkhead seemed to be one of the prime cut candidates for the team ahead of training camp since New England's backfield was loaded with talent, and cutting Burkhead would have freed up enough cap space to leave them some wiggle room for a signing or two during the season. Now, if the the team were to part ways with the veteran running back, New England would save $765,000 in cap space but would also deal with $1.55 million in dead money, per Benzan.

Yes. His dead money would be $1.55M. Pats would create $765,000 in cap space. https://t.co/y0Dg4P5OJ3
— Patscap (@patscap) July 7, 2020