The Mankins paradox
 

I've been following this melodrama just like everyone else but there are 2 questions that I never see answered. I'd appreciate someone or everyone explaining it to me.

1. Mankins has stated he is all set with money. He has saved all his money from the first 5 years of his career (about $8MM IIRC), and doesn't need the money. YET, he's been offered about $7MM/yr and is pissed that it isn't $8.5MM. IF money doesn't matter, then why is he pissed?

2. In his own statement he claimed that the Pats promised to take care of him after the uncapped year. Yet "after the uncapped year" isn't until 2/11. So did he misspeak, or does he just not know what he is talking about. Because the Pats DID offer to take care of THIS off season to the tune of making him one of the top 3 OGs in the league.

3. Now we are starting to hear the the Pats promised to make him the TOP paid G in the league, yet no source has been mentioned on this. Is it true, or is it just another example of mediot speculation.

4. If Mankins is EVER going to get my respect back, he is going to have to make clear, EXACTLY what he thought the Pats promised and what they actually delivered. He is going to have to state for the record that he thinks he's the BEST OG in the league, and wants to be paid as the best. Anything less isn't going to do it. THEN I might disagree with this position, but at least I would know where he stands,and I can respect that.

Re: The Mankins paradox
 

As I have postulated before, I am convinced that the problem is with Mankins' agent. I don't think he's been up front with Mankins about what the Patriots have offered and/or he's withholding other information hoping to fatten his own wallet.

Mankins seems to me to be a straight-up guy, and the Patriots are square dealers. That. to me, says the problem is in the middle, and the middleman is Mankins' agent.

Re: The Mankins paradox
 

1) To Mankins its not about the money,its about prestige for what he thinks is being the best OG in the NFL...Personally I do not feel he is #1..definately top 5 but not #1

3) The Patriots NEVER promise to pay any player the top salary in the league that is not how this team works or runs the show,I don't believe they ever told him he would be highest paid - he would be lying about that IMO.

Re: The Mankins paradox
 

I'll take a stab at #1, I'm not sure about the other three. It's about the perceived respect he's getting, not about the money. Jahri Evans is being paid somewhere in the $8 million/year range by the Saints. Mankins thinks he the best guard in the NFL and shouldn't have to settle for less than what Evans got. And by the Pats not offering him more than Evans they have disrespected him and his ability.

In the words of Mo Vaughn - it isn't about the money.

Re: The Mankins paradox
 

+1.
My theory on this is pretty simple: First of all, I doubt the Patriots told Mankins much of anything directly. Any statements they made were undoubtedly made to Mankins' agent - and therein lies the problem. The agent is probably not exactly feeding Mankins information in a pure, unbiased, 100% accurate manner. He wants Mankins to see the Patriots as the villains.

So it's clear from Mankins' own statements that there is some confusion on his part. Mankins probably believes what he is saying, but that don't make it true.

Re: The Mankins paradox
 

:confused: It's not about the money. It's about being paid more than everyone else. Okay.

Re: The Mankins paradox
 

Bill Simmons' most recent article goes into why John Hannah held out before, because he was unhappy with his contract and felt its amount conveyed respect.

Back to Mankins. Published reports say he was offered 35M over 5 years, after the RFA year of about 3M. That puts him at basically 6M per year for 6 years, which doesn't even make him a top 10 paid guard. This was after Mankins played out his crappy 6 year deal, while others have held out and gotten paid before their rookie deals finished.

This isn't just Mankins, but Brady too, the Pats play hard ball with EVERYONE. The Pats even tried to get out of giving Brady a 20K bonus in his 2nd contract which he made them put back in their 3rd contract.

Last year with Wilfork the Pats played a similar game, leaking reports early in the season of what Wilfork supposedly turned down, to make him seem greedy.

Re: The Mankins paradox
 

It's not about the money, it's about the respect. Mankins is very old school, and apparently feels disrespected because he believes the Patriots misled him. It apparently is a matter of honor to him.

Re: The Mankins paradox
 

That is a very very stupid thing to do. I have otherwise had high respect for what this organization has achieved, but this kind of move is completely boneheaded.

Re: The Mankins paradox
 

Exactly. And given even mild mannered Brady's negative reaction at the time it's not hard to see how a guy with less of a sense of humor (Logan) could get wicked pissed over perceived BS like that.