Matthew Slater Patriots Contract Details Revealed: 'Team-Friendly'?

Matthew Slater, a 12-time New England Patriots captain, is returning to the team for his 16th NFL season in 2023.

FOXBORO — The New England Patriots and special teams captain Matthew Slater have agreed on a deal that can best be described “team-friendly.”

While the Patriots announced Slater’s intent to return for his 16th season with the team on Friday afternoon, the details regarding his Slater’s deal were reveled on Monday. 

Per an ESPN report, Slater will earn $2.52 million in base salary for 2023, while receiving a $152,500 signing bonus. No additional incentives or roster bonuses have been added to the deal.

As such, the total value of the contract is a fully-guaranteed $2.67 million. 

However, as accurately predicted on Friday by Patriots salary cap expert Miguel Benzan, the Patriots’ will incur a salary cap hit of only $1,317,500. 

How, you may ask?

Given his tenure with the team, Slater’s deal was designated as a “four-year qualifying contract” — defined by NFL.com, as follows:

“Four-year qualifying contract:

Another type of veteran salary benefit, it can be offered to a player with at least four credited seasons whose contract with a team has expired after being on said team for four or more consecutive, uninterrupted league years prior to his contract expiring. Such a player must have been on the team’s 90-man active/inactive list for said seasons (and every regular-season and postseason game). Teams can sign a maximum of two eligible players to this type of salary benefit. 

A qualifying contract under this benefit is a one-year deal with a base salary of up to $1.35 million more (set to increase in 2024) than the minimum base salary for said player. However, if a team does sign two players to a qualifying contract, it can only give a combined $1.35 million in additional base salary between the two deals. Under such agreements, only the applicable minimum base salary (not the $1.35 million benefit) is charged against the salary cap.”

A 12-time team captain, Slater originally joined the team as a fifth-round draft selection (153rd overall) in the 2008 NFL Draft out of UCLA. Since that time, he has played in 223 career regular season games, starting three of them, and 25 postseason contests with one start. He has earned two first-team All-Pro selections (2016, 2019), three second team All-Pro (2017, 2020, 2021) and 10 Pro Bowl nods, the most by a special teamer in NFL history.

For all of his on-field success, the argument can be made that Slater is equally respected off the field. The Pats captain takes great pride in his role as a mentor for many of the team’s younger players — not only leading them on the field, but also offering his wisdom and advice away from it.

Unsurprisingly, Slater’s leadership and on-field prowess have been particularly auspicious for Patriots coach Bill Belichick. 

“Matthew is a great person, great player, great teammate,” Belichick said of Slater during a January media conference. “It’s about as close to perfect as you could get. So, he’s been a great asset to me personally. Been a great asset to our team and organization on multiple levels.”

With his return to the gridiron now confirmed, Slater will have yet another opportunity to add to an already indelible legacy in New England, as well as the the NFL universe. 

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Follow Mike D’Abate on Twitter @mdabateNFL and Listen/Subscribe to his daily podcast: Locked On Patriots

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