Do you want the Patriots and Wilfork to reconcile their differences?

No i do not. I want them to continue with the plan. Keep freeing up space. They got Revis, now they need to free up more space and pull off the Larry Fitz trade that they've been working on!

This team is better with Big Vince in the middle. I hope he sees the light here and can put pride aside.

dex13 said:

ain't going to happen but I already miss the big guy. he kinda reminds me of Big Papi in a way.

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What way is that?

I love Wilfork but at 11.5M on the cap this year, and the fact that our defense has evolved, I really can't see spending a lot of money to keep him. Is he the best at his position? YES, but there are not that many rushing teams in the NFL. It is a passing game now and his skill set is no longer as important as it used to be. Sorry to see him leave the organization, but as a Pats fan, its the best thing for our team. Any real fan already knows this.

supafly said:

How did Revis help to create cap space?

He has a 7 million dollar cap hit for this year.

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It makes you wonder, what the heck are the Patriots planning to do with all the cap space, they got Revis for just $7M against the cap.

I said at the time of the injury and it was announced it was season ending that Wilfork probably played his last down as a Patriot. I have had six months to prepare for this.

There is no way they are going to repair this. The Pats are not going to pay a 33 year old, 350 lb DT coming off an achilles tear market value for a good DT. I don't think Wilfork will renegotiate for anything less.

I am ok with this. I love Vince. I have a signed picture of him on the wall in my man cave. But I am very weary of his injury and I wonder if he was already hit the age wall before his injury. People blame his poor play at the beginning of the season on this injury in that it was already injured, but is that just an excuse. The man was abused by Vlad Duccasse. Was it the injury or was it Wilfork was just slowing down.

Run stuffing DTs are not as important anymore. Yeah, the Pats got abused by the run last year, but that was as much about injuries to Spikes and Mayo as Wilfork (maybe more so). I think Kelly is a safer bet (it is easier to come back from an ACL tear than a achilles injury).

I would rather use the $7.5 million cap money from Wilfork to sign several players rather than on Wilfork. If Wilfork is willing to come back on a reduced deal whether it is by a restructure or pay cut (ain't happening), then I would welcome him back with open arms. Otherwise, thanks for the decade Vince and I wish you all the best where ever you land.

Wilfork needs to let his pride go and re-structure his contract. we are better with him in the middle. but not at an 11.5milliion$ cap hit.

if he hits the open market, NO TEAM is going to pay 7.5million$ to a 33year old 350pound NT coming off an achilles injury.

The Pats got abused by the run last year, even with Silga. They had to commit two LBs to run blitzing on most downs and it showed up in the Patriots pass defense and when the LBs blitzed wrong, it showed up in the Patriots run defense.

They absolutely missed Wilfork last year. They now have all of FA and the draft to find a guy to help fill the middle.

Very much undecided on this one.

Part of me thinks this may well be a blessing in disguise. Wilfork is a great run stuffer but we haven't had a great interior pass rush for a very long time.

It may well be time to move on, especially if he doesn't want to restructure. I can't begrudge either side for their stance. I see Wilfork's side but it makes a lot of sense from the Patriots' perspective to say take a cut or move on.

jb1095 said:

I love Wilfork but at 11.5M on the cap this year, and the fact that our defense has evolved, I really can't see spending a lot of money to keep him. Is he the best at his position? YES, but there are not that many rushing teams in the NFL. It is a passing game now and his skill set is no longer as important as it used to be. Sorry to see him leave the organization, but as a Pats fan, its the best thing for our team. Any real fan already knows this.

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I disagree: stopping the run is still vital if we consider ourselves to be a SB caliber team (ask Denver!), and we weren't very good at it last year. The real issue is whether or not Wilfork can perform at a level that justifies a huge cap hit.

Rob0729 said:

There is no way they are going to repair this. The Pats are not going to pay a 33 year old, 350 lb DT coming off an achilles tear market value for a good DT. I don't think Wilfork will renegotiate for anything less.

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Agree. I think Vince has painted himself into a corner, for no good reason. Perhaps he just can't help himself, but he has to realize that aging linemen coming off injuries do not do well in free agency. Who knows, maybe he's ready to retire if he doesn't get what he wants?

UK_Pat37 said:

Part of me thinks this may well be a blessing in disguise. Wilfork is a great run stuffer but we haven't had a great interior pass rush for a very long time.

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If you are setting the bar to 'great', I have to say I don't think we've ever had a great pass rush in the BB era. Seymour was probably the best D lineman of the earlier BB era yet was mostly a 'hold the fort' gap filling system kind of guy. He presented challenges to the other side due to his many talents, yet IMHO was not a stud pass rusher. The strength was in the LB corps (Vrabel, Bruschi, McGuinnest) and backfield (Law, Milloy, then Harrison).

I would be curious to know how big, Big Vince is right now? I have to believe he has gained a few lbs since his injury. We have seen other players come back in 6-8 months from an achilles injury (T fizzle) but even then at a reduced playing state for another 8-12 months. I have to think that is the expectation with Wilfork, that he might be back but not at full force for 2014. In 2012, he played practically every snap, then he was worth the money. I would doubt if he could play 30 - 40% of the snaps in 2014?

Pat the Pats Fan said:

I would be curious to know how big, Big Vince is right now? I have to believe he has gained a few lbs since his injury. We have seen other players come back in 6-8 months from an achilles injury (T fizzle) but even then at a reduced playing state for another 8-12 months. I have to think that is the expectation with Wilfork, that he might be back but not at full force for 2014. In 2012, he played practically every snap, then he was worth the money. I would doubt if he could play 30 - 40% of the snaps in 2014?

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Much closer to 380 than 350 would my money be on. That's not to say I think he cant get right. One thing ive learned about Vince over the years is that he will not quit. That man is as game as they make them, and you can bet your bottom dollar that if he has something left, were gonna see it.

The only way to reconcile with Wilfork is to guarantee his entire 2014 salary.
If he doesn't play one series of downs, he gets 8 million dollars. If he is
able to play, he'll want to be a free agent in 2015. This means franchising him to keep him and he'll be ticked off again.

1960Pats said:

What way is that?

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big soft-hearted guy who takes younger players under his wing

Mogamedogz said:

Much closer to 380 than 350 would my money be on. That's not to say I think he cant get right. One thing ive learned about Vince over the years is that he will not quit. That man is as game as they make them, and you can bet your bottom dollar that if he has something left, were gonna see it.

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Wilfork is over 400lbs right now. His list weight of 325lbs was his combine weight over a decade ago. He has been playing at about 365lbs over the past 3-4 years (maybe slightly lighter in 2012). If I was to guess based what I saw on the sideline he was about 425lbs to 450lbs.

Reconcile .... really?

the only thing Belichick/Kraft reconcile is what is expected of your play in the future and will your salary reflect what is expected. The only player who was kept on as extra might have been Troy Brown ... maybe. This is business plain and simple and everything else is their personal feelings for the players off the field. On the field and in the business office there is no emotion when it comes to contracts IMO.

My take on this is both sides are right. It's just a matter of who wants it more.

Vince is correct because he played out a max rookie contract that he vastly outplayed and never complained like others would. His current contract is the only one with real (NFL) money that pays what he's worth and he fought hard for the contract.

The Patriots are correct because this is a business and winning is more important than feelings. Vince is older and is a risk coming off of this so a reduced salary is something they should seek.


It's really a matter of what the Patriots and Vince value more. Vince is very principled and so are the Pats.

No matter what happens with Vince, I will not be upset with him at all and I won't be mad at the Patriots either.

Vince is a good soldier and the Patriots are a good business.

I voted Divorce.
His + Adrian Wilson's cap space would be better-served signing as many of the following
as possible:

S Chris Clemons
DB Brandon Browner
CB Walter Thurmond
LB Dane Fletcher
DL Alex Carrington
DE Jared Allen/Corey Wooton
OG Shelly Smith
OT Will Svitek
TE Owen Daniels/Dustin Keller
WR James Jones
WR Austin Collie/Jason Avant
RB LeGarrette Blount

Split, then possibly reconcile.
Pats are within their rights to hold onto him until FA $ are spent and teams have signed the DT competition but that will provoke legit ill-will from the player. It's the Pats who took the initiative to force a redo of terms.
If the Pats truly believe that Bianca will not approve what they're willing to offer, they should thank him for what he's done while under contract, cut him, let him explore the market and if true, let him know that there's still a job here for terms as previously discussed.

Brady6 said:

Wilfork is over 400lbs right now. His list weight of 325lbs was his combine weight over a decade ago. He has been playing at about 365lbs over the past 3-4 years (maybe slightly lighter in 2012). If I was to guess based what I saw on the sideline he was about 425lbs to 450lbs.

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This is Vince playing at 325:

Vince Wilfork Destroys a Nole - YouTube

I agree, it's pretty clear that even when he was noticeably slimmed down in 2012, he was still much heavier than that.