Bedard: Retirement Seems Likely for Light

[BradyManny]

I'm pretty sure that if the contract isn't fulfilled the team can ask for the prorated share of the signing bonus back. Getting to keep the full signing bonus, generally means that the entire contract has to be fulfilled.

Thanks for the heads up. Getting that $3 million back would be important, I would think. It would lessen the blow of Light's impending retirement, for sure.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

I saw Kraft on comcast being interviewed, he said WHEN Matt Light retires. Maybe he does this year maybe he doesnt, my guess is he comes back for at least one more year, hes at the top of his game and seems to love playing.

 

[ay-yo]

5 mil is a lot for anybody to pass up. I think he comes back. IIRC he plans on living in NE even after he retires.

 

[resdubwhite]

one more year please Matt.

 

[Ring 6]

We would still have:

T- Solder, Vollmer, Cannon (Gallery)
G- Mankins, Waters, Gallery, Wendell (Cannon)
C- Connolly, McDonald (Wendell)

So I think we are still set if he retires.

 

[Fencer]

It seems obvious from Bedard's reporting and analysis that Light has indicated to people that he will retire. If he doesn't retire, it will be because he changed direction from the way he was leaning.

I'd surely love to see him back, given how well he played last season, and given what the Bills have done in free agency, assuming he's not bailing out for fear of head injury and the like. That he can't play RT is immaterial, as long as 2 of our top 3 OTs can play the position.

If he goes, then the Gallery signing is even more important. Yeah, I know he's not a great OT, but he can probably fake it in a pinch. Our backup OTs back up LT, RT, and #3 TE, so we need some good depth there.

 

[DaBruinz]

People are over-looking Donald Thomas who is a G/T. The Patriots also have Matt Kopa who was on the Practice Squad last year and Kyle Hix who was on injured reserve. Don't count them out.

The Pats might look at an OT later in the draft, but with no draft picks beyond the 4th round, currently, that's not likely either.

 

[MP-Logick]

People are over-looking Donald Thomas who is a G?T. The Patriots also have Matt Kopa who was on the Practice Squad last year and Kyle Hix who was on injured reserve. Don't count them out.

The Pats might look at an OT later in the draft, but with no draft picks beyond the 4th round, currently, that's not likely either.

Tradedowns will almost certainly net a late pick or two.

 

[sevengables_2207]

Tradedowns will almost certainly net a late pick or two.

I can envision this next month... as well as selecting a late OT prospect to add depth at the least in the event of a Light retirement.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

The bad news is that Light seemed to get better with age with arguably one of his best season last year. The good news is his retirement frees up another $5 million in cap space while the Pats already have his replacement on the roster.

Not the best news to hear, but there is some good upside to go with the downside.

That's how I see it. Plus it looks as if Vollmer and Solder are our T's of the future. Might as well do it now than later

 

[pork3]

That's how I see it. Plus it looks as if Vollmer and Solder are our T's of the future. Might as well do it now than later

I'm concerned about Vollmer's back issues as it sidelined him for the majority of last season.

-Jamman

 

[conway]

My money says Light plays. Hes coming off a great season individually and as a team. The team clearly has the potential to win a Super Bowl. And the guy seems to love football. He'll be back. Waters, too, though they both may "weigh their options" through the bulk of training camp.

 

[nashvillepatsfan]

My money says Light plays. Hes coming off a great season individually and as a team. The team clearly has the potential to win a Super Bowl. And the guy seems to love football. He'll be back. Waters, too, though they both may "weigh their options" through the bulk of training camp.

yep. The older they get, the more camp they miss. Im betting Light comes back........he'd better be back, we need him

 

[supafly]

I'm concerned about Vollmer's back issues as it sidelined him for the majority of last season.

-Jamman

I hear your concerns about the Vollmer back injury, although there are a couple of things that tend to make me feel a bit more positive about it:

1. Belichick kept him on the active roster, even though Vollmer only started 5 games all season. That's basically 25% of the season, with a huge gap in between that could have been used for another roster signing.

That tells me that either Belichick had inside knowledge that the back injury should have not had quite as long of a healing phase, or that he values him so incredibly much that he was willing to wait anyway. OR maybe a combination of both?

2. With almost 6 full months to any significant contact in TC, Vollmer may have had a lingering issue that simply needed some time to heal. With 1/2 of a full year, he should be getting the proper treatment and fulfilling the healing process.

3. This is even greater speculation, but I would think that if it were 'that' bad, Vollmer would have had some type of surgery on it. There's the fact that as of right now, it's not bad enough to warrant surgery, and even if it is, the surgery would likely alleviate much of his discomfort.

All of this is just personal opinion of course, but those are 3 things that come to mind when thinking of the Vollmer back issue. I personally don't think it will be as much of a problem as some do. Even if it is, he should still be way more effective than he was last season. There are players who play with nagging injuries all of the time and are still somewhat successful; especially the big uglies.

 

[IllegalContact]

usual old guy shtick to get out of OTA's

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Things are always subject to change but Light is pretty friendly with the media and they seem to have been under the impression from the outset that the team was ready to move on and the expectation was that he is too and that he will retire. That would explain Bedard using the $8M figure whenever he cites cap savings on Light since that would be the savings if he reimburses half of his signing bonus although given the way he performed last season (his best in a couple of years) I wouldn't be surprised to see the organization waive that (as they have in the past when long timers decide they are done). Nor would I be surprised given the Mankins situation to see them change their thinking on how ready they are for him to move on. Or how ready they are to move on from Koppen - just to create more flexibility along the OL for the first half of the season...

If he were up for taking a shot at sliding over to LG (or RT) that would be different, but he's never seemed open to being anything but a LT. Bringing Koppen back would almost seem to make more sense as it would free up Connolly in the early going. But the key there would be if Koppen is interested in a one year deal... That may be on the table pending interest, and we haven't heard a whisper about Koppen visiting anywhere. Kind of like we didn't hear about Branch visiting anywhere because it was really about weighting a standing offer on the table for a one year deal here...and they weren't going to match anything else.

 

[brady199]

I hear your concerns about the Vollmer back injury, although there are a couple of things that tend to make me feel a bit more positive about it:

1. Belichick kept him on the active roster, even though Vollmer only started 5 games all season. That's basically 25% of the season, with a huge gap in between that could have been used for another roster signing.

That tells me that either Belichick had inside knowledge that the back injury should have not had quite as long of a healing phase, or that he values him so incredibly much that he was willing to wait anyway. OR maybe a combination of both?

2. With almost 6 full months to any significant contact in TC, Vollmer may have had a lingering issue that simply needed some time to heal. With 1/2 of a full year, he should be getting the proper treatment and fulfilling the healing process.

3. This is even greater speculation, but I would think that if it were 'that' bad, Vollmer would have had some type of surgery on it. There's the fact that as of right now, it's not bad enough to warrant surgery, and even if it is, the surgery would likely alleviate much of his discomfort.

All of this is just personal opinion of course, but those are 3 things that come to mind when thinking of the Vollmer back issue. I personally don't think it will be as much of a problem as some do. Even if it is, he should still be way more effective than he was last season. There are players who play with nagging injuries all of the time and are still somewhat successful; especially the big uglies.

Even wth moderen medicine as good as it is, it's never a good idea to get back surgery more times then not it just makes it worse.

 

[Warren94]

there are some potential LT in the draft and we honestly do not know if Solder can play LT. Some solid LT. Nate Potter-Boise State. long arms strong base.

an OL of Potter/Solder-Mankins-Connolly-Waters or Cannon and Sea bass!

 

[patsfaninpa]

there are some potential LT in the draft and we honestly do not know if Solder can play LT. Some solid LT. Nate Potter-Boise State. long arms strong base.

an OL of Potter/Solder-Mankins-Connolly-Waters or Cannon and Sea bass!

I think he can. But, if Solder struggles at LT. Slide Vollmer over. He did fine when he filled in for Light before. We have two starting LT's IMO not one. No need to panic. Solder played LT his whole life. Slid to the right side for need not adaptability purposes.

 

[borg]

Things are always subject to change but Light is pretty friendly with the media and they seem to have been under the impression from the outset that the team was ready to move on and the expectation was that he is too and that he will retire. That would explain Bedard using the $8M figure whenever he cites cap savings on Light since that would be the savings if he reimburses half of his signing bonus although given the way he performed last season (his best in a couple of years) I wouldn't be surprised to see the organization waive that (as they have in the past when long timers decide they are done). Nor would I be surprised given the Mankins situation to see them change their thinking on how ready they are for him to move on. Or how ready they are to move on from Koppen - just to create more flexibility along the OL for the first half of the season...

If he were up for taking a shot at sliding over to LG (or RT) that would be different, but he's never seemed open to being anything but a LT. Bringing Koppen back would almost seem to make more sense as it would free up Connolly in the early going. But the key there would be if Koppen is interested in a one year deal... That may be on the table pending interest, and we haven't heard a whisper about Koppen visiting anywhere. Kind of like we didn't hear about Branch visiting anywhere because it was really about weighting a standing offer on the table for a one year deal here...and they weren't going to match anything else.

Is it customary for teams to reward players for not honoring contracts? Can you think of any other Patriots that Bob Kraft has bestowed millions to as a parting gift? Did the Pats and Brady restructure, sacrificing future cap space, so Matt can ride off into the sunset with extra coin?