No progress with Vince Wilfork contract talks

For a bargain price Wilfork can get locked up too. He deserves to be one of the highest paid DT in the league, but without knowing the new labor rules the Pats shouldn't sign him right away to a blockbuster deal. Espeically since the franchise tag amount for a DT is a manageable 6 million.

Unfortunately for Wilfork he plays an inside defensive tackle position. Andy M is right here. That franchise number of approximately 6 million a year is going to work against any long term big money signing he might want. It wouldnt be a good business move to sign him to anything more that guarentees him 12 - 15 million. My guess by his stance he is looking for closer to 20 - 25 million. I see the pats franchising him next year and letting Seymour walk.

Hey Mike,
I know this is off topic on this article, but i see that Adam Seward was cut by the Colts and i knew a while ago that BB wanted to get him as a RFA. He is a UFA now. I also mention this because Lennon has been injured and we dont have that much depth at ILB!!

I wonder if some of the playing in the 4-3 is to see if the Patriots can survive in the future without a nose tackle.

Wilfork has handled this whole situation as a consummate professional. I hope he gets a fair deal from the Pats and stays.

If the Pats don't think he's worth the market rate, I wish Vince the best of luck elsewhere. He's a very good player, but the Pats have lots of tough decisions to make.

This will wind up being more foolish than letting Samuel go. Wilfork is one of the best there is at what he does.

MSG FOR VINCE:
WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, YOU HAVE ONE YEAR LEFT ON YOUR CONTRACT SO SHUT UP AND PLAY.

(ps: im a big fan but this contract thing is starting to annoy me)

Yu think the Pats defense has issues now--wait til they don't have Wilfork...Remember the Jets w/out Jenkins?

Big mistake...how about the all the comments about Ron Brace?The guy is a rookie and half the size of Wilfork....

Can't wait to see the negotiation with Brady.....Why does every player have to take less than market value?

The Pats have a few guys up for contracts after this year. I am thinking that if Brace works out they can franchise Vince then trade him for a #1 pick in 2010 and the Pats go on a shopping spree again.

Jets? What Jets? Who are the Jets? Are we talkin' Joan Jett, Jet Blue, Benny & the Jets? I am confused; I thought we were talking football, NOT NY's excuse to get rowdy, drunk and whip beer bottles on a Sunday afternoon.

"Market value" for every player would not be possible under the salary cap. This isn't the 80's when free agency and salary cap didn't exist. Franchiseing Wilfork is an option the team has, but then the same problem develops with other players too. So who do you pay and who do you allow to walk? That will be determined after the season ends.

Vince has the heart of a LION. We need the big guy up front, especially on goal line stands. 5 years for 25mil should do it. I wish Kraft would not drag his feet on75

I truly want to see Vince back, and appreciate the way he has handled this. I am afraid sooner or later however the acrimony will begin. I only hope that when push comes to shove he is able to factor in that the 31 other teams out there making their moves are not the New England Patriots.There are reasons for the Patriots long term success and it starts with fiscal responsibility. You play with a winner and make a good living, or you go for the money and take your chances. If you are smart and manage your money you retire with a nice nest egg and a legacy in the NFL...or, you take your chances.

Wilfork is great, & I hope he is a Patriot for many more years. On the other hand, The Patriots are pretty smart with the Salary Structure & have avoided getting into Financial/Salary Cap trouble as a result, unlike other teams in recent history. Some of the signings or contract renewals I have seen other teams make just don't seem to take into consideration, the rest of the team, or the future financial well being for the team. The Patriots are not going to fall into that trap, especially when there are legitimate concerns regarding the expiration of the Current NFLPA Labor Contract.

Pat's are full of Bull Cake. The new rules will not effect a club based upon a single player contract. In fact giving Wiford money now might in fact be the better move from a business point. So Kraft is selling bull.

Vince has the heart of a LION. We need the big guy up front, especially on goal line stands. 5 years for 25mil should do it. I wish Kraft would not drag his feet on75

Listen MM,
If you want to stay with your present team you have to take less than market value to keep the team competitive, otherwise you mess up the structure of the roster and wind up losing games, some guys don't care if they lose cause they are all about the money and don't love the game. If you want to win you need to put your ego aside, Lets remember we are talking about many millions here not chump change. There's enough cash there for Vince to feed his kids and the whole neighborhood.

Chill everybody......Ron Brace is going to make Wilfork expendable in another year at a much lower cost. And to the guy who said Brace is half the size of Wilfork, check your facts. To me, 330lbs. is bigger than 325lbs.

Can't sign everyone. This isn't the Yankees.

MLB has the luxury tax. The NBA has the Larry Bird Rule. It's time for the NFL to lighten up on their strict salary cap.

I suggest each team be able to sell future draft picks to the NFL league office in exchange for extra salary cap room. For example, during the 2010 NFL Draft, the Pat's decide to transfer their rights to one of their two mid second round draft picks to the NFL league office, in exchange for an extra TWO MILLION above the Pat's allocated salary cap. You see how it works? That way, the Pat's can transfer all of their 2010 secnd round draft picks to the NFL in excange for $6 million of extra

salary cap room. That will allow them to resign Vince to a contract that is beneficial to both the Pat's and Vince

although we hear this contract stuff but i think the Pats players are at least not as loud as other guys like boldin, marshall etc. I think we should applause wilfork for that at least.

Hey MM it's called SALARY CAP!!!! If a team had 22 starters making market value they would be millions over the Cap and have no money left for bench players. Also boys, think about the days without guys before Vince, Ted Washington and a few other 3 story homes that helped stopped the run! Remember those days? Once BB brought in these guys who filled the gap the Patriots were no longer last in the NFL in rushing defense and we started winning Super Bowls. Somewhere in this crazy salary cap era BB & Kraft will find a way to make Vince, Seymour and other possible free agents happy.

M&M: Only so much $ to go around. Franchise = 6 million, it's a no brainier. I think Mr. Kraft has a valid point. How can you play the game without knowing the rules. Lucas O. has a valid viewpoint also. Never give up a great payer but, you need all your ammunition when going to war. Money is an important asset when you are dealing with the ughhh, salary cap. Salary cap is such a dumb concept when you consider that the top 10 picks are allowed to high jack the NFL for large amounts of $ for an proven commodity while veterans like Vince have to go through the motions of the "grab what you can" game. Fair market value with a salary cap makes no sense in the real business world. Why the owners let this situation get out of hand is beyond me. The players complain but, they also agreed to this retarded situation. Enough of this insanity. Anyone want to talk about the 53 man roster? B.S.!

MM, the Jets D went down the tubes when they lost Jenkins mostly because they have ZERO depth on the defensive line. They've been hanging their hats on the likes of Pouha and Devito. Besides, Jenkins has been compensating for their lack of a starting-caliber RE and Ellis' inability to handle double teams on the left side. Jenkins is practically single-handedly preventing the Jets line from imploding.

The Pats, on the other hand, have Seymour and Warren on either side of Wilfork, a backup NT in Wright, and a 2nd round pick vying for playing time at the NT spot too. Also, the Pats don't rely on Wilfork to generate a 3rd down pass rush, as he usually comes off the field in favor of someone like Green. You can't compare the two teams' situations.

The secondary was decimated when the Patriots failed to address the Samuel contract early enough, and with suffient $$$$ indicated early on. The secondary then becomes one of the worst in the NFL. Today, its the same mistakes being made again with Wilfork, who has merely outplayed his rookie contract and gets this grief in return. Unbelievable incompetence. YOU ARE DESTROYING THE FOUNDATION OF A GREAT TEAM! AGAIN.

Pay the guy! Stop being the cheapest organization in football. Even though I am a lifelong Pats fan, it makes me crazy when they scr@# their own players and replace them with lesser talent. They learn what they lost and fix it the next year. Meanwhile, Brady gets another year older, and we lose this valluable time. Kraft and Belichick can be really pigheaded when it comes to contracts.

The secondary was decimated when the Patriots failed to address the Samuel contract early enough, and with suffient $$$$ indicated early on. The secondary then becomes one of the worst in the NFL. Today, its the same mistakes being made again with Wilfork, who has merely outplayed his rookie contract and gets this grief in return. Unbelievable incompetence. YOU ARE DESTROYING THE FOUNDATION OF A GREAT TEAM! AGAIN.

Only the Patriots are smart enough to stonewall a players salary demands which has made for greatness of the franchise.With Samuel, they got caught with their pants down but by and large they outsmart every team in the league.

Why give Wilfork, as good a player as he is, all that $ and not be able to sign Lewis, Springs, Bodden, Baker, etc, etc. One Wilfork for 7 free agents?

Kraft is the genius and Brace will make Wilfork another Branch. Mark my words

# 20 - BILL WHATS WRONG WITH YOU!
Thats the most ridiculous concept I have ever heard, trading your draft picks for cash would kill the team in the long term. Assume Chung, Brace, Vollmer or Butler (this years second round picks) progress into very good, very very good or even one of them becomes an All star in three or four years.
Would you trade the potential of three of them now for one player (Vince) who only plays on running situations.
I would only do that for a young TB or PM to play QB and no one else in the league!
Don't get me wrong I like Vince but not that much.
Wake up Bill, thank god your not Bill B. Your not are you????

I love the Patriots, I sided with them on the Dion Branch issue, but in this case I think Vince has been more of player than anyone on that line. Somehow, Some way I think the Patriots have to make a well publisized good faith offer to Wilfork. he has earned it. Beyond that, the Patriots have come to regret when they hesitate to pull the contract trigger.

@ Mike Shea --

Interesting idea. I hadn't thought of that before. I think partly the inclusion of more 4-3 was in response to the lack of adequate (in BB's judgment) 3-4 OLB talent available in FA and the draft (or reasonable trade). But, yeah, what you suggest could have been a contributing factor. It doesn't have to be one or the other.

@ Daron --

You need to check your salary cap numbers before you start calling the Pats "the cheapest". Even before they franchised Cassell, there were (IIRC) 20 teams with more cap room than the Pats (a few, like TB, GB and KC with 3-4 times as much cap space). After Cassell was franchised and until they shed his franchise number, the Pats could barely have signed a water boy. Over the past several years, the Pats have been very successful at keeping a large number of very good players happy while also maintaining just enough cap space to make changes as needed. And it's not as if they haven't won anything this way.

I wonder if the same people saying Ron Brace will make Wilfork expendable are the same ones who would say Brady was expendable after Cassel had a decent year. What has Ron Brace ever done? He has not played a down in the NFL. Vince Wilfork is a monster. Who was the "Ron Brace" of cornerbacks last year who replaced Samuel last year?

Joe the drunk, I never thought Brady was expendable after Cassel's year and I still think Brace is going to surprise people. If you followed his career at BC you should remember when BJ Raji was out it was Brace who anchored that defensive line and had many critics arguing over which of the two was better. It was a steal that Brace was available when the Pat's took him. Wilfork is one of the best noses in the game but entirely replaceable.

It will be hard to replace Wilfork, but not impossible. There are plenty of good nose tackles presently in the NFL, and I think the Pats are hoping that Brace will become another one. You don't spend a 2nd round pick to shore up the backup positions. They made that selection with the intent of Brace becoming a starter. You don't give up on him before he's even played a down!

I think their plan is to get to know Brace for a year. If, after working with him for a year, they feel he can play the nose tackle position in this league, they'll use that money to address other positions instead of giving it all to Wilfork.

Jaden, let's see Brace play a few downs for keeps before we write off Vince Wilfork. Right now, one is one of the top players at his position in the league and the other was a very good college player.

sign Vince...see ya later Big Rich who hasn't done much of anything over the past few seasons

#12 - that's hilarious! 5/$25 million will do it?? The Pats would have that drafted up right now. Double the money and you probably are at the starting point for negotiations.

Mcdrunk, I'm one fan that thinks that Seymour outperformed Wilfork last year. Really, I think Seymour is just the better player, period. The only real question is his durability.