By creating more space this year, the Patriots open up an option where they can potentially address contracts of players who will be a priority in the near future, and do so by offering a larger base salary in 2012 instead of an up-front signing bonus. That could help from a cash-flow perspective. So, as an example, let’s say the Patriots were thinking of pursuing contract extensions with tight ends Rob Gronkowski (expires at end of 2013) and Aaron Hernandez (expires at end of 2013). This move with Brady creates a possibility where the team could sweeten their base salaries as part of an extension, taking advantage of the excess cap space they’ve created this year.