Damiere Byrd's Contract Details Prove He's Far From Being Roster Lock

On Wednesday, the New England Patriots signed former Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Damiere Byrd. It was a typical move by the Patriots, who like to make low-key free-agent acquisitions during this time of the year.

New England signed Byrd to a one-year contract, and now that the details of his contract have been made available, it's evident that he is no lock to make the roster come September.

Byrd's contract has a base salary of $1 million and gets $600,000 in guarantees, which includes his signing bonus and $250,000 of his base salary, according to Ben Volin of The Boston Globe. Additionally, Byrd has up to $900,000 in incentives he can earn, which are tied to receptions, per ESPN insider Field Yates. He's currently taking up 0.7% of the team's salary cap space, per OTC. If the Patriots were to cut Byrd during the preseason, he would leave behind $600,000 in dead money. So, there's little for New England to lose if they want to part ways with him.

Byrd will certainly have his work cut out for him when he hits the practice for the first time in New England. He joins a receiver room that consists of Julian Edelman, Mohamed Sanu, N’Keal Harry, Jakobi Meyers, Gunner Olszewski, Quincy Adeboyejo and Devin Ross. But what Byrd has going for him that the other wideouts on the roster don't possess is blazing speed. Back at his pro day in 2015 Byrd ran a 4.28 40 time, which only a handful of players in the NFL have been able to run.

Unfortunately for Byrd, his blazing speed hasn't translated to on-the-field success since entering the league in 2016. In four seasons he has 44 receptions for 488 yards and three scores. However, most of his production came last year in Arizona, when he caught 32 passes for 359 yards and one score.

If Byrd can stay on the Patriots roster in 2020, he has the opportunity to make his first NFL paycheck with seven figures on it.