Vince Wilfork asks to be released

[Patsrock]

What I just dont understand is, I dont see many teams paying him 11.5million$ if he gets released. what he signs with for another team would likely be similar to what the Pats would restructure his contract to.

Again he is not making $11.5. He is scheduled to make $7.5 plus bonus money which would make it $8M.

I willing to say he would get a deal with guarantees to make the $8M he would be out when the Pats cut him.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Which football team would pay $8 million to this guy:


1.) Going to be 33 years old next season

2.) Coming off a major achilles injury

3.) played poorly last year when he played

4.) Overweight

5.) Family history of diabetes



No one....that's who. Time to move on.....it's the right thing to do for the team.

He might get a face saving $ contract with PT incentives to offset the team's risk if he's not good to go or effective.

I always find these pride & biggest $$$ things hard to relate to. Yes a football career is short but a smart guy like Vince probably has most of his millions, enough to feed a comfortable family lifestyle. An extension would still add many more millions and ease him into post Pats retirement. I'd take quality of life over money any day once I had a certain level. I always did, I'm out of the industry and never regretted not chasing top dollar. I could not care less how relatively overpaid some other bozo was…beyond my control.

But I'm not a pro athlete.

 

[Danger Zone]

I don't think they will cut him anyway. Belichick will not be made a fool.

Belichick has a long history of releasing veterans early out of a stated respect for them and to facilitate them finding employment elsewhere.

His article a week or two ago was the set up for this.

Agreed.

 

[BradyFTW!]

It was the right move anyway, so cutting him sounds good to me. Hopefully they're able to part on amicable terms, because he's been an all-time great Patriot.

My guess would be that, being a smart guy as he is, Wilfork realizes that he won't get $7.5M on the open market, but wants the freedom to go and get a longer term deal with more guaranteed money than the Pats were offering on an extension, even if it's at a lower AAV. If nothing else, this protects against the possibility that he's done as an impact football player, which he has to realize might be the case.

Even then, in my eyes it's no slam dunk that anyone will give him that much guaranteed anywhere. I understand why he would want to go out and try to chase that deal, though.

 

[TBR]

I think we address DT (along with TE) with our first 2 picks of the draft.

The Wilfork release gives us some nice cap space, and hopefully that's used for WR, DE, OL/C, CB (Browner)

I wonder what's happening with Blount though

 

[PATSNUTme]

Never forget!

 

[PATSNUTme]

Daniel McCullars remmeber that name

I'm sure every buffet in the south knows his name.

 

[grux]

Sad day no doubt but I hope he doesn't regret asking for his release. The market is going to be thin for a 350lb nt coming off an achilles injury.

 

[mayoclinic]

From Tom Curran, per Jason La Canfora on Twitter:

Patriots wanted to get Wilfork redone by Tuesday. Obviously, he has not and is resisting any notion of reducing pay and extending.

 

[Rob0729]

In terms of Raji, there doesn't seem to be a deal imminent.

FYI for those asking about him RT @jasonjwilde: I'm told there's nothing new and nothing done between #Packers and Raji

https://twitter.com/BenVolin/status/444189298175520768

 

[PatsGuy]

actually, your right...he hasn't officially signed with the Packers. everything seems to indicate that they have been close to a one year deal. Raji seems to be hoping for a little better deal so maybe his ears just perked up today.

The packers are looking for a lower contract because Raji's production fell way off this past season. I'd be very concerned.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Sad day no doubt but I hope he doesn't regret asking for his release. The market is going to be thin for a 350lb nt coming off an achilles injury.

I'm willing to bet that whatever extension offer the Patriots made for him already reflected that fact. After looking at what Linval Joseph got, he has to realize that he's not getting $7.5M on the open market, but he wasn't going to get it from the Pats either, because there was no way they were ever going to honor the last year of his deal. They will have made that clear by now.

He's probably confident that he can get more from a team with more cap room, and there's a good chance that he's right, even with all of those factors acknowledged. It really depends on a great unknown, which is what the Pats were offering in an extension.

Separately, re: replacing him with Raji... why? They don't run a base 3-4 anymore, so a dedicated NT isn't necessarily a need. They may choose to continue to employ one, but it could go in a lot of different directions at this point, and I don't see how signing BJ Raji would be a good one. I wouldn't mind seeing Tommy Kelly and Henry Melton as the starting DTs.

 

[Stylez]

Sad and a little surprised. The Pats really came through for Wilfork on his last contract. I'm not sure if he realizes the the chance they took making him the highest paid NT ever, especially considering his age and size at the time. He's either in for a rude awakening or some sucker is going to overpay for him. Gonna miss the big fella.

He was also the reason Seymour was traded to Oakland. So they could sign him long term.

This sucks man...my Pats jersey is wilfork...he was the epitome of a patriot...just sucks...

 

[resdubwhite]

Ah nuts.


always remember his performance against Baltimore in the AFC championship game in 2012. there should have been a bridge named after him for that performance that day.

An unbelievable player. Hopefully calmer heads prevail and he's a patriot this year.


then we cut him for this insolence*


* I kid.

 

[varjao]

Houston Texans?

 

[PATS16N0]

Jets fans trying to make themselves feel better about Revis by convincing themselves he's destroyed our locker room and driven Wilfork away lol

SHUT UP YOU IDIOT!!

Less than 24 hours in and Revis is ALREADY destroying whatever semblance of a "team" you morons thought you had!
Your TEAM just took 2 steps back and this is ONLY the beginning! GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR NEXT SIGNINGS PUNK!!!!
And don't even try to sugarcoat SHlT! WE JETS fans know all there is to know about what chain reactions Revis will have for that franchise!
Personally, I could not have hoped or even imagined it would happen this quickly, but... Enjoy the circus, because that is ALL you losers are.
And thank you for helping to prove that! Seriously.
#forevertainted

 

[OhExaulted1]

If Vince really thought he is still worth 8 mil a year and wants us to respect his wishes, then why not ask for a TRADE to a team he finds to his liking? Either way we eat the 3.6, so why not show the team the respect of getting something back for him in the form of a draft pick?

I call this request selfish and juvenile on his part. I'm mad, I'll show you? Really? If he thinks he's worth what his salary is, then someone would at least pony up a late pick for him. Now other teams know the situation is untenable and he has backed the FO into a corner as well as himself.

If we release him and he can't get an offer for what he thinks he's worth than he has no-one to blame but himself. Sorry Vince, your wrong on this one. Stamping your feet immaturely won't do anything but bring your market value down and pidgeon-hole you as a 1 year rental. Good luck with a multi-year offer. I doubt it.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Ah nuts.


always remember his performance against Baltimore in the AFC championship game in 2012. there should have been a bridge named after him for that performance that day.

An unbelievable player. Hopefully calmer heads prevail and he's a patriot this year.


then we cut him for this insolence*


* I kid.

That was one of the most badass one-man performances I've ever seen in the NFL. He was the MVP of that game and the main reason we were playing in the SB in 2011.

 

[dex13]

If Vince really thought he is still worth 8 mil a year and wants us to respect his wishes, then why not ask for a TRADE to a team he finds to his liking? Either way we eat the 3.6, so why not show the team the respect of getting something back for him in the form of a draft pick?

I call this request selfish and juvenile on his part. I'm mad, I'll show you? Really? If he thinks he's worth what his salary is, then someone would at least pony up a late pick for him. Now other teams know the situation is untenable and he has backed the FO into a corner as well as himself.

If we release him and he can't get an offer for what he thinks he's worth than he has no-one to blame but himself. Sorry Vince, your wrong on this one. Stamping your feet immaturely won't do anything but bring your market value down and pidgeon-hole you as a 1 year rental. Good luck with a multi-year offer. I doubt it.

there is NO WAY that any team trades for Wilfork. They already knew he's either restructuring or being cut.

 

[Username]

Raji has been phoning it in since 2011. I wouldn't go near him.