With the Patriots hosting restricted free agent Adam Seward on a visit today at Gillette Stadium, here is a snapshot look at the team's recent history (2000-present) with restricted free agents:
2000 -- The Patriots signed Ravens OL Spencer Folau to an offer sheet. The Ravens matched. Folau ended up playing the next five seasons. (note: thanks to Dan, from New Bedford, for pointing this out as it wasn't part of the original update)
2001 -- The Patriots signed Steelers RB Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala to an offer sheet, but the Steelers matched. The Patriots would have had to give up a sixth-round pick for Fuamatu-Ma'afala. (note: thanks to blog poster Michael for the reminder on this one, as it wasn't part of the original post)
2002 -- The Patriots signed LB Mike Maslowski to an offer sheet, but the Chiefs matched. Maslowski had entered the league as a free agent, so there would have been no compensation. (note: thanks to Steve in Plainville, Mass., for the reminder on this, as it wasn't part of the original post)
2003 -- Willing to surrender a sixth-round draft choice, they signed Seahawks defensive tackle Cedric Woodard to an offer sheet. The Seahawks matched, and Woodard was a starter the next two seasons before injuries derailed his career.
2004 -- The Patriots signed DE Rodney Bailey from the Steelers, giving up a sixth-round draft choice. Bailey was injured in training camp (Achilles), and never played a regular-season game for the team.
2007 -- The Patriots met with WR Wes Welker (Dolphins) and considered signing him to an offer sheet, which would have cost them a second-round pick. But instead of going through that process -- which could have included a poison pill in the contract -- the teams agreed to a trade instead. The Patriots sent their 2007 second-round pick, plus a 2007 seventh-rounder, to acquire Welker.
what is a posion pill in the contract?
Hi Christian. A poison pill makes it almost impossible for the other team to match the offer. So, as an example, let's say the Patriots included a poison pill in an offer sheet to Welker last year that stated his contract would be fully guaranteed if he played more than 4 regular-season games in the state of Florida in 2007. The Patriots know that wouldn't be a problem for them, because they were only playing one game in Florida (vs. the Dolphins). But the Dolphins play 8 regular-season games in Florida. In that case, the thinking is that the Dolphins probably would decide it was too much to risk to match it based on the poison pill.
--Mike
A poison pill is a clause within the offer sheet (the contract the potential new team offers) that makes it difficult or impossible for the team holding the rights to the RFA to match the contract. For instance, the Patriots could offer Seward a contract for three years with $20 million paid in the first year... and there's way Carolina could match it due to cap issues (no way we could or would offer it either, but just as an example). Or the Patriots could offer a deal that pays $2 million per year, but with a $25 million bonus if Seward plays four or more games at LB in North Carolina during the 2008 season (it would never kick in if Seward signed with New England, but would cripple Carolina, so again, Carolina would have to let him go). There's a variety of creative -- and fairly easy -- ways to make it nearly impossible for the rights-owning team to match.
Sometimes teams (including the Patriots, with Welker last year) will make a trade offer instead, so as to avoid the potential bad blood that making poison pill offer sheets frequently engenders (last year the Patriots offered 2nd and 7th-round picks, the 7th being a toss-in to sweeten the pot and entice Miami to make the deal and help New England avoid having to make a poison pill offer).
Hey Mike, I think you're forgetting a few. I know from 2000-2003 we routinely signed one RFA per off season that would eventually be matched by the other team. I don't remember the names but I do remember one was that big RB from Baltimore I think with a Hawaiian last name. I think he's a full time FB for someone now.
Thanks guys, today was the second time i had seen the term and had absolutely no idea what it meant.
it sounds like seward is the 2008 version of vrabel.
Hi Michael. Tremendous memory. Wow. I missed two on my original post. There was Mike Maslowski from the Chiefs in 2002. And the person you are thinking of is former Steelers RB Chris Fuamatu Ma’afala. I just added him to the post and gave you some props for correcting my error. Thanks.
--Mike
Mike Maslowski then intercepted Tom Brady for the Chiefs in Foxboro, on 9 22 02. NE led 38-24 with six and a half to go, and yielded two late fourth quarter TD's, the latter as time expired. We won in OT but a flawed defense had been revealed. Thereafter: loss, loss, loss at home, bye week, loss at home.
If you look at The Sporting News' 2005 Pro Football Register, you won't find Maslowski's interception. But Brady will recall it, and it's in the gamebook!
Rodney Bailey missed his first NE season on IR, he eventually went back to the Steelers. Perhaps now he will be stirred into the newest awful mixed drink: Baileys and Orange Crush!!!
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