Vince Wilfork plans to return to Patriots for 2015

"New England Patriots 11-year veteran Vince Wilfork has no plans to go out on top after winning Super Bowl XLIX.

The five-time Pro Bowl selection told WEEI-FM's Dale Holley, via the Boston Herald, on Thursday that he worked too hard to return from an Achilles injury last season to hang up his cleats now.

"I'm already looking forward to next year to see if we can do it again," Wilfork said. "... I still have a lot of football in me."

Wilfork is no longer a Pro Bowl-caliber player, but he was still excellent against the run while leading the Patriots' defensive line in snaps in 2014.

Would a hard-boiled Bill Belichick consider releasing the 33-year-old to save $8 million in salary-cap space?

In the first of Around The NFL's Offseason Forecasts, Gregg Rosenthal suggests it's a very "on to 2015" Patriots move."

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...-wilfork-plans-to-return-to-patriots-for-2015

V is still a good player, but im not sure he's worth 8 million....

It would be cool to see Wilfork back, the man is a class act. Hope they can work something out that is good for all parties involved.

Nice to have him back but not at 8 mil. He is a shell of his former self.

Whether he comes back or not id like to see them pick up a DT

1st round pick #32 will be a DL

I am ok w overpaying Vince as I feel his 'setting the tone in the locker' is worth more than people realize. Cleveland : there are not enough "Wilforks"...

BUT, there is a difference between overpaying a bit (which I am fine with) vs overpaying a lot (8M$). Fun offseason already - cause being defending champs wins you lotsa fuzzy feelings with the fan base.

Excited to see Easley being healthy this TC. VW is amazing..but 8 mill? Ehh it would be nice if he could drop that a tad to help go to Dmac and Revis..or to Branch/Ayers coming back

I mean as far as i can tell they can keep him at 8 mill and still pay revis mccourty ect new deals so who knows what happens or who is leaving

There are some interesting DL out there in free agency but idk.

I love what VW has meant to this team, but they would need to restructure his deal for it make sense. The DL needs more youth and explosiveness imho and 8 mil can help to that end.

Patriots1364life said:

Nice to have him back but not at 8 mil. He is a shell of his former self.

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Shell is harsh. He is still a very good player- just not an all-pro worthy of $8m.

Ideally, they should pay him the bonus and make the 2015 salary vet minimum & throw some incentives in there.

Even then @ $5m+ I'm not sure hes worth it.

Not happening at 8 mill. Not sure hes going to accept 5 mill. This might be painful. Delighted he has another ring though.

I hope he restructures. He's still a huge leader on that defense, we can use him and his experience, but not for $8 million. I hope he values playing for BB and another Ring over making more money.

I'm sure Wilfork is willing to come back to play for the patriots for $8M for his 2015 services.

We've seen Wilfork's negotiations. He's never given up a dime. I don't expect him to take a $3M pay cut.
Money has always been important to him. Wilfork needs to decide with which team he wants to spent his last 2-3 years.

I expect that Belichick will re-sign Branch to a 3 year contract for $2M or so a year. Branch played well and is 3 years younger than Wilfork.

Obviously, Belichick would like to have Wilfork back. And I expect us to draft a DL early, yet again.

DEFENSIVE LINE
DE: Ninkovich, Jones, Moore, Buchanan
DT: Siliga, Branch, Easley, Jones, draftee

Obviously, this defensive line would be much better with Wilfork included. The open question is whether the DL is $3M better with Wilfork, $5M better, or $8M better.

I certainly don't have an answer.

Vince should be a better player next year than he was this year.

I'm sure BB is looking at wilfork's replacement at pick 32.

In other news, "Lawyer Milloy plans to be back with Patriots in 2003."

I hope Wilfork comes back, but I really don't see BB paying him $8milion+ at this point. Might have something to do with the actual salary cap, though. Anyone know when it will be officially released?

This thread makes me wonder if people really watch the games.

Deus Irae said:

Vince should be a better player next year than he was this year.

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Perhaps. Do you believe that Wilfork is worth $8M for his 2015 services?

Ivan said:

This thread makes me wonder if people really watch the games.

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Whats your point? Are you saying wilfork is worth the 8 million? I love wilfork as much and appreciate all he has done but at 8 mil thats too high for him.