Exploring Potential New England Patriots Cap Casualties

The New England Patriots are one of the most notorious teams in the league when it comes to making the tough decisions and getting rid of players who aren't worth their contract.

With an infusion of youth at several positions, and a training camp fracas brewing at wide receiver, several players could be left out in the cold during the fall.

Which players are most at risk of being cut?

For a quick primer on "dead money," read the end of this article from Ben Volin of the Palm Beach Post. All salary information provided by Spotrac.com and NYJetsCap.com.

Chad Ochocinco

Ochocinco's disappointing 2011 season means that it could be time to put up or shut up.

He proved his commitment to the Patriots by taking a $2 million pay cut, and while it may have put him in better standing to stay with the team, it also gave the team an easy and inexpensive way out of his contract.

According to NYJetsCap.com, his new base salary for 2012 is $925,000. How much of that is guaranteed is unknown.

Deion Branch

It's hard out here for a veteran wide receiver.

That's the tune that many of New England's pass-catchers could be singing by the end of training camp. One thing that Branch has going for him that other Patriots receivers don't is years of experience in catching passes from Tom Brady. 

Statistically, last year wasn't a down year for him; in fact, it was right around the average for his career. Still, at 32 and going on 33-years-old, there are legitimate questions as to how long he can keep it going. 

Cutting Branch would still count for around $400,000 off 2012's salary cap, but would save around $925,000 overall.

Joseph Addai

Addai provides a versatile veteran presence who can not only coach up the young backs, Shane Vereen and Stevan Ridley, but who can also contribute when healthy.

Those are the key words: when healthy. Addai has missed 17 games in the past four seasons and 12 in the past two seasons alone.

As we know, salaries are guaranteed for players who are on the Week 1 roster. Keeping Addai at that time would immediately result in a cap hit of $1,368,750. Cutting him before that point would save them $643,750 off the cap.

Josh Barrett

The safety position was one of the biggest headaches for the Patriots last year. As such, you'd think they'd want to keep their most experienced players at the position.

That being said, after adding Tavon Wilson, Nate Ebner and Steve Gregory to a group that already consists of Patrick Chung and Sergio Brown, the Patriots have plenty of insurance if Barrett hasn't fully recovered from his calf injury last season.

Barrett's cap hit for 2012 is $900,000 if they keep him on the roster, but they can save around $766,880 by cutting him.

Erik Frenz is the AFC East lead blogger for Bleacher Report. Be sure to follow Erik on Twitter and "like" the AFC East blog on Facebook to keep up with all the updates.