Denism
Practice Squad Player
- Joined
- Dec 24, 2006
- Messages
- 101
- Reaction score
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By Shalise Manza Young
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The window for NFL teams to designate franchise or transitional players opened yesterday, and will close on Feb. 22.
But there was no news on which player the Patriots might tag for the upcoming season. Of the 14 soon-to-be unrestricted free agents New England has on its roster, there are two, corner Asante Samuel and tight end Daniel Graham, that would most likely be designated as the team’s franchise player.
Since Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli took over in New England in 2000, they have franchised just two players — Adam Vinatieri and Tebucky Jones. It’s worth noting that the positions those men play — kicker and safety, respectively — have two of the three lowest franchise figures. The figure in the middle? Tight end.
The 2007 amount to franchise a tight end is $4.371 million, while the number for cornerbacks is $7.79 million (quarterback is the most expensive position, with a $12.615 million salary amount). The Pats are projected to have about $27 million in cap space this year.
Samuel’s agent, Alonzo Shavers, was to have a meeting with Patriots brass on Wednesday, but with Belichick in Hawaii coaching the AFC team in the Pro Bowl, not much is expected to happen until he returns. Samuel and Shavers are on the record as saying that the fourth-year corner, who had a breakout season at exactly the right time, would not be happy if he were to be franchised.
The team and Shavers were in negotiations about a contract extension during the season, but tabled the talks in October. New England apparently was offering a five-year deal, but the annual salary was nowhere near the nearly $8 million Samuel would make this season were he to be franchised. On the eve of the playoffs, Samuel was quoted in the Boston Globe as saying the offer "isn’t even worth discussing."
A fourth-round draft pick out of Central Florida, Samuel had 10 regular-season interceptions, including a three-pick game against the Bears in November. He also had 62 tackles (56 solo), 24 passes defensed and a forced fumble. In the playoffs, the man who has a tattoo stating "Get paid" made himself even more money, with two more interceptions, both of which he returned for touchdowns.
Last year, corner Charles Woodson signed a seven-year, $52-million contract with Green Bay with a reported $4 million signing bonus. But Woodson has something on his resume — namely, four trips to the Pro Bowl — that helped drive up his price. Despite tying for the league lead in interceptions with Pats’ nemesis, Champ Bailey, Samuel was not chosen for the Pro Bowl.
As for Graham, there are rumblings that he wants out of New England, but neither he nor his agent, Jack Mills, have said anything publicly about his contract. Calls to Mills were not returned.
Teams can franchise one player per season, giving him a one year, guaranteed salary equal to the average salary of the five highest-paid players at his position. Other teams can offer the player a contract, but the original team has seven days to match it. If the original team does not match the offer and the player signs with another team, it receives the first-round draft pick of the new team for the next two years.
Transitional players receive a salary equal to the average of the top 10 highest-paid players at their position. Teams can still tender a new offer sheet, and the original team still has seven days to match any new offers, but there is no compensation to the original team if a transition player goes to another club.
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The window for NFL teams to designate franchise or transitional players opened yesterday, and will close on Feb. 22.
But there was no news on which player the Patriots might tag for the upcoming season. Of the 14 soon-to-be unrestricted free agents New England has on its roster, there are two, corner Asante Samuel and tight end Daniel Graham, that would most likely be designated as the team’s franchise player.
Since Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli took over in New England in 2000, they have franchised just two players — Adam Vinatieri and Tebucky Jones. It’s worth noting that the positions those men play — kicker and safety, respectively — have two of the three lowest franchise figures. The figure in the middle? Tight end.
The 2007 amount to franchise a tight end is $4.371 million, while the number for cornerbacks is $7.79 million (quarterback is the most expensive position, with a $12.615 million salary amount). The Pats are projected to have about $27 million in cap space this year.
Samuel’s agent, Alonzo Shavers, was to have a meeting with Patriots brass on Wednesday, but with Belichick in Hawaii coaching the AFC team in the Pro Bowl, not much is expected to happen until he returns. Samuel and Shavers are on the record as saying that the fourth-year corner, who had a breakout season at exactly the right time, would not be happy if he were to be franchised.
The team and Shavers were in negotiations about a contract extension during the season, but tabled the talks in October. New England apparently was offering a five-year deal, but the annual salary was nowhere near the nearly $8 million Samuel would make this season were he to be franchised. On the eve of the playoffs, Samuel was quoted in the Boston Globe as saying the offer "isn’t even worth discussing."
A fourth-round draft pick out of Central Florida, Samuel had 10 regular-season interceptions, including a three-pick game against the Bears in November. He also had 62 tackles (56 solo), 24 passes defensed and a forced fumble. In the playoffs, the man who has a tattoo stating "Get paid" made himself even more money, with two more interceptions, both of which he returned for touchdowns.
Last year, corner Charles Woodson signed a seven-year, $52-million contract with Green Bay with a reported $4 million signing bonus. But Woodson has something on his resume — namely, four trips to the Pro Bowl — that helped drive up his price. Despite tying for the league lead in interceptions with Pats’ nemesis, Champ Bailey, Samuel was not chosen for the Pro Bowl.
As for Graham, there are rumblings that he wants out of New England, but neither he nor his agent, Jack Mills, have said anything publicly about his contract. Calls to Mills were not returned.
Teams can franchise one player per season, giving him a one year, guaranteed salary equal to the average salary of the five highest-paid players at his position. Other teams can offer the player a contract, but the original team has seven days to match it. If the original team does not match the offer and the player signs with another team, it receives the first-round draft pick of the new team for the next two years.
Transitional players receive a salary equal to the average of the top 10 highest-paid players at their position. Teams can still tender a new offer sheet, and the original team still has seven days to match any new offers, but there is no compensation to the original team if a transition player goes to another club.
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It's the Patriots' choice.
