Wide receiver Danny Amendola will be sticking with the Patriots for the coming year, as the team has restructured his contract in order to keep him on the roster, reports Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports (Twitter link). According to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter), Amendola’s new deal is also for three years and is worth a total of $12.75MM, with a max value of $15MM.
Amendola was previously set to count for $5.7MM against the Patriots’ cap in 2015 with $1MM increases each year, taking him to $6.7MM in 2016 and $7.7MM in 2017. The new deal is a bit more reasonable for the Pats given Amendola’s production and overall health. The 29-year-old did play a full 16 game season in 2014, but that was his first since his sophomore season in 2010.
Last year, Amendola caught 27 passes for 200 yards with one touchdown. The advanced stats at Pro Football Focus (subscription required) gave Amendola an overall grade of -7.0, ranking him 93rd out of 110 qualified wide receivers.
Had the Pats cut Amendola, they would have freed up $2.1MM in cap room. Designating Amendola as a post June 1st cut, meanwhile, would have saved New England $4.5MM.