According to Mike Reiss, Marquise Hill will still count against the Patriots' salary cap.

According to the NFL's player personnel department, the Patriots are currently being charged the unamortized portion of Hill's prior signing bonus, as well as a likely-to-be-earned minimum offseason workout per diem.

After he was selected with the final pick of the second round in the 2004 draft, Hill had signed a five-year contract that included a $1.15 million signing bonus.

Entering 2007, the unamortized portion of the bonus was $460,000. Hill also had a likely-to-be-earned offseason workout per diem of $6,720 for 2007.

So based on those numbers, the Patriots' salary cap charge would come to $466,720.

Kudos to the NFL for this brilliant enforcement of the rules. The salary cap, what the owners like to call "cost certainty" has made the NFL...I mean, "National Football League," the envy of the sports world. And it should be protected at all costs.

I mean, think about what happens if they make an exception for a mamby-pamby excuse like Hill's tragic death? Let the Pats benefit from Hill's life being cut short, and you'll create an incentive for other teams to follow suit. Then what'll you have? Teams will go to drastic lengths to get cap relief. You'll have contracts taken out on the high salary guys, murders, mysterious disappearances, fake deaths...it'll be chaos.

Good move by the NFL to follow the NBA's lead on this. Because I think the Celtics are still taking a cap hit on Len Bias and Reggie Lewis. And we know how good that's been for the sport.