Patriots Restructure Shaq Mason's Contract to Free up Cap Space

The New England Patriots needed to make room under the salary cap if they wanted to acquire Mohamed Sanu and his $3.5 million cap hit for 2019. So, to free up some cap room, they restructured offensive guard Shaq Mason's contract for 2019, according to ESPN Insider Field Yates.

New England converted $1.75 million of Mason's base salary into a signing bonus, which then created an additional $1.4 million in cap space. Before the restructure, New England had approximately $1.6 million in cap space, per the NFLPA website.

The Patriots have converted $1.75M of G Shaq Mason’s base salary into a signing bonus, creating $1.4M in 2019 cap space, per source. This room was created to facilitate the acquisition of WR Mohamed Sanu.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) October 24, 2019

It's worth noting that if Josh Gordon, who was placed on IR on Wednesday, is waived, then that could also clear up about another $1 million in cap space for the Patriots.