Patriots could cut then re-sign Vince Wilfork

Miguel (on this site) has us $7.6M over the cap. Unless we can sign McCourty, a franchise tag costs another $9.5M

So, let's say they need to clear/reduce around $17 million in cap numbers.

1. Revis signing a new contract... could create over $10 million in space.
2. Releasing Revis (sacrilege!!! I know...) would create $20 million in space.

Releasing Wilfork creates close to $8 million in space.

I for one think that bringing Wilfork back makes sense, but if Revis and McCourty are the top priorities there are only so many places you can go to create $17 million in cap space.

They could do something with a bunch of contracts to push money into the future: Brady, Browner, etc...

If they do release Wilfork, I hope they keep his name plate up and double back to him once they have cleared enough cap space to bring him back.

RayClay said:

I believe they did this with Troy Brown. Wilfork accepted a contract that was very incentive based. He and the team made out, because he was their best DT.

An interception and 2 passes defensed? How many nose tackles even have those statistical categories? It's business. No matter how they do it, the Pats want Wilfork back because no borderline 1-2 pick, or Branch will replace him in the short term.

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IIRC, Brown also got a gig with Dunkin Donuts in his last year(s). He might've been able to make a few hundred thousand somewhere else but would've been an un-famous, un-endorsed guy in another region. He might've earned more by staying.

Maybe Dunks could pick up Wilfork too. The dude looks like he enjoys a donut now and then.

BB should shop Garoppolo and draft pick for a spot early enough to draft D Shelton ......

Wilfork has been a fantastic Patriot but last year wasn't his finest and wasn't worth 8m+/year. The Patriot's won't pay him for what he's done in the past.

I'd love him for another year but he's either a tough negotiator or someone the media portrays as one and it's hard to see BB alright with paying him what his current contract states he will be owed for this season.

If we were ever going to pick a year to reset the NT/DT spot with more youth, this is the draft to do it, by all accounts.

Easley (huge unknown if he'll ever be pre-injury form we saw in school), Siliga, + 2015 rookie will give us a very young core with huge upside but little known facts.

I don't like losing Wilfork but I also would like that capspace available if we're not getting Wilfork near his best. This is the draft to do it and I'd rather not wait and miss the chance at some good ones and be stuck with nothing when he is gone for sure.

I believe the ideal scenario for Wilfork and the Pats is for him to take the ring, go out on top, and announce his retirement. There will never be a better time.

BTW, Hagati Ngata in Baltimore (31 years old) is being given the ultimatum in Baltimore to reduce his $8.5 million number or get cut. He IS still a run stopping force.

Bobs My Uncle said:

BB should shop Garoppolo and draft pick for a spot early enough to draft D Shelton ......

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And then do what at QB2? Garoppolo is supposedly here to be the future, Brady, despite WANTING to play until he's 45, has a pretty low chance of actually doing so. JG has a good chance of suiting up for us as the starter in the next 3-4 seasons and he's looked better (in very limited action) than most other QB's we've seen recently in their rookie seasons.)

DT: Siliga, Easley, Jones, fa or draftee

If Branch is available at $1.5M, how much more does Wilfork add?

I suppose we could simply cut Wilfork and see who is available at what price. Would we want Ngata or Wilfork for 2/$10M?

hwc said:

I believe the ideal scenario for Wilfork and the Pats is for him to take the ring, go out on top, and announce his retirement. There will never be a better time.

BTW, Hagati Ngata in Baltimore (31 years old) is being given the ultimatum in Baltimore to reduce his $8.5 million number or get cut. He IS still a run stopping force.

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Baltimore is playing with fire, because they think they can scare Ngata after his suspension and injury. If Ngata tells them to pound sand, they're screwed.

mgteich said:

DT: Siliga, Easley, Jones, fa or draftee

If Branch is available at $1.5M, how much more does Wilfork add?

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According to both the tape, and the playing time, the answer to your question is "A great deal".

Deus Irae said:

According to both the tape, and the playing time, the answer to your question is "A great deal".

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Playing time is not relevant. Everyone is clear that Wilfork should play instead of Branch when both are available. I would not expect Branch to get very many reps at all if both Siliga and Wilfork are healthy. IMHO, that is NOT the question before the house.

The open question is how much the patriots are willing to pay for a NT. I suspect that Branch will stay in any case, although I could certainly see the patriots waiting and signing a free agent. They could wait until the last day of the season to make the decision, after a couple of days of the tampering period, so that the patriots can try to secure a free agent.

strngplyr said:

And then do what at QB2? Garoppolo is supposedly here to be the future, Brady, despite WANTING to play until he's 45, has a pretty low chance of actually doing so. JG has a good chance of suiting up for us as the starter in the next 3-4 seasons and he's looked better (in very limited action) than most other QB's we've seen recently in their rookie seasons.)

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Draft another QB ........

shmessy said:

Easley is about 90 lbs lighter than Wilfork. He's more of a better Chris Jones than a Vince Wilfork. Two totally different player roles.

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That's exactly the right comp. Easley is, potentially, an incredibly rich man's Chris Jones. Before he blew out his ACL in his last year at UF, he was generally considered as a prospect to be worse than Aaron Donald, but on that same tier. That's the kind of disruption that we're talking about, but most definitely not as a 0-1 tech two-gapping NT. He's essentially the polar opposite of that, as far as DTs go; all lightning-fast first step and aggressive, one-gapping penetration to blow up plays as they develop.

I would love to see the Pats figure out a way to keep Wilfork for another year or two, because if Easley gets/stays healthy I could see them being an incredibly effective DT combo. Wilfork eating all the space that Easley vacates while exploding into the backfield.

Unfortunately, I think the biggest obstacle to this might be Vince's ego. Maybe the whole sequence of demanding his release and then backing off last year changed his perspective a bit, because in the past he's always come off--and this isn't a criticism, he has every right to feel this way--as a guy who's intent on being paid what he's worth and holding the team to what he sees as their end of the deal. We saw that in 2009 when his contract negotiations got a bit heated, and we saw it again last year when he demanded his release.

Based on that precedent, I would be surprised if he suddenly accepts the kind of dramatic pay cut that would be necessary for the Pats to justify keeping him. But in the mean time I'll be optimistic that everything that they went through in the 2014 season might have shifted his mindset to a place where he's more open to taking a paycut. And if he's not, then that will seriously suck as a fan, but it'll also be impossible to hold that against them. I'll keep pulling for him either way.

mgteich said:

Playing time is not relevant.

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Of course it is, when it comes to your question.

mgteich said:

The open question is how much the patriots are willing to pay for a NT.

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That is not the question your post was positing, and that is not the question to which I was responding.

The question you asked was:

If Branch is available at $1.5M, how much more does Wilfork add?

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Of course both tape and playing time are relevant that that question.

Decision time has come whether to retain a useful player who will be 34 in November
or good players like Revis, McCourty, and Gostkowski.

Wilfork has to be a team player. This draft is deep at DT. I hope they draft one. Our run defense wasnt as great.

I love Vince. He's incredibly important to our defense as it stands now - one of the few remaining connections to the one-of-its-kind 03/04 Patriots Way, as well as a hugely talented NT.

I think we all saw last year that he didn't quite have the burst he used to...how much of that is age, and how much is the recovery from the injury, none of us really know.

We do need him to restructure, but we have to remember that (rightly) he's a very proud man, and that he won't take discounts for the sake of it.

I think we should give him a mostly-guaranteed contract, say 3 years/16-18m with most of that guaranteed for both injury and skill, and a few LTBE incentives on top of that.

It'd reduce the cap hit while keeping him in town and still making him feel loved.

Nonentity said:

I love Vince. He's incredibly important to our defense as it stands now - one of the few remaining connections to the one-of-its-kind 03/04 Patriots Way, as well as a hugely talented NT.

I think we all saw last year that he didn't quite have the burst he used to...how much of that is age, and how much is the recovery from the injury, none of us really know.

We do need him to restructure, but we have to remember that (rightly) he's a very proud man, and that he won't take discounts for the sake of it.

I think we should give him a mostly-guaranteed contract, say 3 years/16-18m with most of that guaranteed for both injury and skill, and a few LTBE incentives on top of that.

It'd reduce the cap hit while keeping him in town and still making him feel loved.

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Why would you guarantee a contract for a guy who has lost something and is 34? So if he gets cut at age 35 the cap hit will be 12M or so? Yeah, that'll make him feel loved all right. Make the team feel strangled by his cap hit too. I think that's the last thing they'd do. Cut him if need be, let him check his worth as a FA. It won't be what he thinks it is.

Ngata at 8.5M or Wilfork at same. Who would you take? I'd take Ngata. He can't be moved when he's in there.

Nonentity said:

I love Vince. He's incredibly important to our defense as it stands now - one of the few remaining connections to the one-of-its-kind 03/04 Patriots Way, as well as a hugely talented NT.

I think we all saw last year that he didn't quite have the burst he used to...how much of that is age, and how much is the recovery from the injury, none of us really know.

We do need him to restructure, but we have to remember that (rightly) he's a very proud man, and that he won't take discounts for the sake of it.

I think we should give him a mostly-guaranteed contract, say 3 years/16-18m with most of that guaranteed for both injury and skill, and a few LTBE incentives on top of that.

It'd reduce the cap hit while keeping him in town and still making him feel loved.

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That should absolutely make him feel loved, because that would be an insane contract to give him.

mgteich said:

So now we come to the point where Wilfork is replaceable by a draft choice.

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no we come to a point that a draft choice and 8 mill to spend on a replacement or on another need may be greater than having wilfork on the team.