Crazy Patriot Guy

I apologize if this has been talked about already today but I thought about it while at work after hearing about the Gronk extension.

In the past 27 months, the Patriots have:

made Vince Wilfork the highest paid NT ever (at the time it was signed)
made Tom Brady the highest paid QB ever (at the time it was signed)
made Logan Mankins the highest paid interior OL ever (at the time it was signed)
gave Jerod Mayo $48.5 million in new money, with 1.5 years left on his rookie deal
gave Gronk $54 million with 2 years left on his rookie deal

But they didn't push hard enough for Peppers or Mario Williams.

Yep.....cheap.

mayoclinic

Good post. Those were also all "win-win" deals - they were good deals for the players, and for the club. Gronk gets extended with 2 years left on his rookie contract, but the Pats get one of the hottest offensive players in the game tied up long term at reasonable cost.

Right now those are probably the 5 biggest impact players on the team, all signed through 2014 or longer. The other players with contracts coming up shouldn't be in quite the same rent district:

- OT Sebastian Vollmer - one All Pro selection but back problems in 2011 and his RT position will likely limit his ceiling to less than Mankins kind of money
- WR Wes Welker - age, the slot position and questions of how much the system has benefitted will keep his long term cost down. Currently playing under the franchise tag.
- TE Aaron Hernandez - will cost less than Gronk, or he walks.
- OT Nate Solder - too far out to project. Signed through 2015.
- CB Devin McCourty - too early to project after a poor sophomore season. Signed through 2014.
- S Pat Chung - injuries have limited his playing time, and he's a solid but not top echelon safety.

The team is doing a great job of wrapping up its core players.

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"OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid

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patchick

I've said this before, but I really like the way they seem to be focusing the big $$ on retaining their own top talent. It's much lower risk (you already know how they work with YOUR team, in YOUR system); it allows for season-to-season continuity and growth; and it sends a great message about how performance is rewarded.

mayoclinic

It also can't hurt to have guys like Branch, Gaffney and Stallworth coming back and saying that the grass isn't greener elsewhere.

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"OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid

"The key to any successful organization is to anticipate things, not react to them." - Michael Lombardi

mayoclinic

ESPN's James Walker seems to think that the Pats will now have to choose between long term deals for Wes Welker or for Aaron Hernandez:

Pats chose 'Gronk' over Welker, Hernandez - AFC East Blog - ESPN

Locking up Gronk long term was a great move. NFL.com's Gregg Rosenthanl summed it up very succinctly:

Rob Gronkowski breaks mold with Patriots extension - NFL.com

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"OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid

"The key to any successful organization is to anticipate things, not react to them." - Michael Lombardi

Joker

Just an outstanding observation..short, succinct and "hammer meet nail" astute.You should look into a job working P.R. for the Pats, patchick...

Joker

yeah...my incredible hatred for anything FESPN aside, how does this clownerette Walker MISS the fact that Welker can be TAGGED....and tagged again...the Pats don't have to choose anything between anybody...this is why I loathe FESPN...this turd is trying to create controversy where there is none now and doesn't look to be anytime soon either...but he just has to blabber on a like some crack addled Nostradumba$$...who the hell is he to DECLARE what the Patriots have to do? Instead he should be playing "Pin The Head On The Jacka$$" with him starring as Zippy the Pinhead...dyam, I really cannot stomach much more of this national sports media garbage.

supafly

Too much of an opinionated piece for my liking, to be honest.

I don't necessarily agree that there should be a choice between Welker or Hernandez. We already have Hernandez through Feb.2014, and could just as easily franchise him allowing the team to secure Hernandez for at least 3 more seasons before any talk of a "long-term" pact needs to be brought up.

3 more seasons is a long time, especially with a minimal committment from the front office.

As far as Welker goes, that situation could easily be taken care of if they come to a fair compromise, allowing him to be here for the same amount of time.

Basically it all comes down to whether or not they can come to an agreement with #83, and if so, they all could still play together for at least 3 more seasons; at least there is a halfway decent chance anyway.

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ctpatsfan77

And the best part is that while, yes, they are giving GRONK $8M this year, they're not changing his 2012 and 2013 salaries. So they could easily do a similar deal with Hernandez later this season/next offseason.

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DarrylS

Guess the term, "Cheap Bob Kraft" will forever be regulated to the oxymoron hall of fame...

This is a win for the Patriots, even the numbers for Gronkoski make sense and only the first 3 years are fully guaranteed... Gronk is happy, we are happy and the Patriots are happy..

From Mike Reiss' blog..

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots

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