The New England Patriots needed salary cap space after acquiring wide receiver Mohamed Sanu from the Atlanta Falcons, and they freed up some room by converting some of Shaq Mason's salary to a signing bonus, per ESPN's Field Yates.
Yates tweeted Thursday a breakdown of how the veteran right guard's contract was changed to help the team create cap space:
Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap first reported Thursday night that Mason's contract had been restructured. Mason is in the first season of a five-year, $50 million contract extension he signed with the Patriots last year. He ranks among the best right guards in the NFL.
The Patriots acquired Sanu on Tuesday to bolster the team's wide receiver depth, which took another hit Wednesday with the announcement that Josh Gordon was placed on injured reserve. Sanu has a salary cap hit of almost $4 million, per Spotrac. New England also signed special teams ace Justin Bethel to its 53-man roster earlier this week.
The NFL trade deadline is scheduled for Oct. 29 at 4 p.m. ET.
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