One other additional piece to this is that I think Lloyd is probably gone. He is owed 4.5 million next year and I think the pats will probably move Hernandez to that position and line up with Ballard and Gronk as the two tight ends.
If anything, though, it is now *more likely* that the Pats keep Lloyd, since the Pats now have more room.
Not saying Lloyd won't be cut, but disagree (respectfully) with your reasoning.
I agree with Rondo on this. Unless Lloyd renegotiates his contract to lower the cap hit, I think he's gone. They're not going to want to tie up that much money with that production.
I agree that Lloyd is likely to be cut. I don't agree that Brady's new contract makes him "more likely" to be cut. All else equal, it should be the other way around.
But, I see Rondo's follow up point: namely, if Brady didn't renegotiate, Pats would keep Lloyd and let go Welker. Now that Brady renegotiated, Pats more likely to keep Welker, hence less need for Lloyd.