Patriots to Re-sign Billy Yates; Peppers Update

Mike Reiss breaks it down:

Offensive lineman Billy Yates, who was released by the Patriots on Tuesday, is set to re-sign with the club. A league source indicated that the contract will be for one year.

Why the quick change with Yates?

This is a situation that is directly related to the uncertain labor situation in the NFL, a league source explained.

Because the 2010 season is currently scheduled to have no salary cap, some of the rules regarding the way contracts are interpreted have changed.

In Yates’ case, he had unlikely-to-be-earned incentives in his previous contract that — due to the uncapped year looming — became likely-to-be-earned incentives. That raised his salary and salary cap charge by approximately $550,000, and led to the Patriots’ decision to cut him.

So in the end, releasing Yates was just a salary cap move, and didn’t factor into his, at times, interesting play on the field.

Also, in unrelated news, Julius Peppers has been given the franchise tag.  This means that if the Patriots are to acquire Peppers, they will almost definitely have to do so through a trade.