That's a good point. Just off the top of my head, one way around it would be to make the incentives more team oriented. For example, if they win the superbowl, he gets the entire $8.5MM and lesser amounts for lesser success in the playoffs. I think those incentives are considered NLTBE. Also wiser heads could accomplish the desired results with other incentives that are also considered NLTBE.
The point is really, MG, who is likely to give Vince $4MM up front to play football next year. They know the injury history, his medical history, his age, and they have seen last year's film. What do you think the market is going to be for him? What's the going rate for 35 year old DT's on the decline. Personally at this stage of their respective careers, I think 'd rather have Haloti Ngata, and I wouldn't pay him anything close to $8MM and neither are the Ravens. Just a thought, what would you pay Ngata next year if he were free and Vince was gone? I might go to $5MM. How about you?
Personally I think Vince knows that next year is the end regardless. Time for him to stop taking the beating and get thin like his wife. By all rights the Pats should simply let him go. What I propose is showing respect and allowing him to go out on his own terms as a Patriot, with a contract restructure that will allow his agents to technically say he didn't take a pay cut, but provide enough cap space that the Pats need so they can afford to keep him.
Vince never struck me as a guy who was out of touch with reality. He has to know that the Pats can't possibly allow him to be a $8.5MM cap burden next year, just as Jerad Mayo knows HE can't be a $10MM cap burden. The problem is that the player's view of the market, is usually higher than reality., especially for guys on the downside. We saw this with Wes.