Mankins' latest comment: "everyone knows I apologized to Mr. Kraft. He told everyone"

[Deus Irae]

Re: Mankins' latest comment

Except in that last game. Not sure what happened there. I recall that Koppen was on the injury report...maybe whatever it was made him less effective?

Connolly got his ass beat.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Re: Mankins' latest comment

I don't blame him really. I'd expect personal conservations to remain private.

Agreed. He was the one who was done a disservice, so I don't really blame him for innocuously referencing it.

 

[mgteich]

Re: Mankins' latest comment

I have seen nothing that makes it seem likely that Mankins will be coming back. Sure, Mankins won't rule out the patriots. Why would he? The reality is that there are 32 teams.

The REAL question to me is whether there is any agreement not to franchise Mankins.

 

[TriplecHamp]

Re: Mankins' latest comment

not re-signing him would be one of the biggest fails in the BB era IMO if he wants 8 million then pay him cause they will not find a better G in the draft or FA he is the best in the AFC and maybe the NFL

Im on the fence about it, if he want's to be the highest paid guard in football maybe its better to tag and trade him and pick up a 1st or second round pick for him.

 

[MassPats38]

Re: Mankins' latest comment

I have seen nothing that makes it seem likely that Mankins will be coming back. Sure, Mankins won't rule out the patriots. Why would he? The reality is that there are 32 teams.

The REAL question to me is whether there is any agreement not to franchise Mankins.

If there were no chance, I'm not sure why he would (1) return well prior to his "must report by" date and (2) do an interview in which he makes fun of all the "investigative media" members who couldn't figure out he was in the local area during his hold-out. After that interview, I wouldn't be surprised if he is enjoying watching the media spinning its wheels with speculation, and a statement like the one he made here would clearly fuel speculation.

 

[satz]

Re: Mankins' latest comment

Well everyone loves his meanstreak but ONLY on the field i guee. He did bring some attitude to the OL because maybe its being him.

he is a mean SOB and i like my trench guys to be like that...i used to love watching OL especially gaurds getting smacked around by seymour.

 

[Water Boy]

Re: Mankins' latest comment

Re-signing this beast has to be priority 1.

I just can't accept paying an OG 8 million a year. 7 million -ok, but 8, just doesn't work for me from a salary cap standpoint. I'd rather invest that money to go after FAs like OLB Woodley or DE/NT Ngnata. Connolly is a very capable starter and we can easily upgrade the position (from Connolly) through the draft if Mankins leaves for more money.

 

[andrewgarrr]

Re: Mankins' latest comment

I just can't accept paying an OG 8 million a year. 7 million -ok, but 8, just doesn't work for me from a salary cap standpoint. I'd rather invest that money to go after FAs like OLB Woodley or DE/NT Ngnata. Connolly is a very capable starter and we can easily upgrade the position (from Connolly) through the draft if Mankins leaves for more money.

'Capable' doesn't cut it in the playoffs.

 

[mgteich]

Re: Mankins' latest comment

I did NOT say that there was no chance.

In any case, Mankins came back to show the 32 teams how valuable he is. He has accomplished his goal.

If there were no chance, I'm not sure why he would (1) return well prior to his "must report by" date and (2) do an interview in which he makes fun of all the "investigative media" members who couldn't figure out he was in the local area during his hold-out. After that interview, I wouldn't be surprised if he is enjoying watching the media spinning its wheels with speculation, and a statement like the one he made here would clearly fuel speculation.

 

[Deus Irae]

Re: Mankins' latest comment

Connolly is a very capable starter

No, he's not.

 

[Lavictoire]

Re: Mankins' latest comment

I thought they came out and said that apology thing never happened?

From what I remember, the story going around was that the Pats had a deal with Mankins but it fell through after Kraft insisted on a public apology. Kraft then came on the air to deny that they ever had a deal with Mankins but he did admit that Mankins apologized and he asked Mankins to do it publicly. Kraft said he has a business reputation to uphold and accusations about lying tarnishes that reputation.

Kraft however distanced himself from what caused Mankins to get so angry and say the Pats lied and went back on their promise. Kraft waffled about what was promised to Mankins and passed the buck saying he doesn't do the negotiations with players.

 

[plk]

Re: Mankins' latest comment

"Well, everyone knows I apologized to Mr. Kraft. He told everyone."

This is a very funny line, and it can obviously be read in a number of different ways.

Mankins does not say whether or not he apologized to Kraft. He only says that Kraft, whom he had previously accused of lying, told everyone that he had.

Different people will take the line differently, but I must say that I'm impressed by the amount of sophisticated verbal humor coming out of the Patriots's locker room.

 

[mgteich]

Re: Mankins' latest comment

Let's say we franchise him and immediately use $12M of cap monies.

1) We cannot trade him until he signs the tag, sometime in July. At that point we could trade him and TRY to make us of the $12M of cap money.

2) Alternatively, Mankins (as a favor) could sign the tag early and contract us to pay him $12M for one year. We would only lose the cap money until there was a sign and trade.

3) As I understand your position, there wil be teams lining up to give us a 1st or 2nd in order to sign Mankins for $12M for one year in the hopes of signing him to a long-term contract? Perhaps Pioli will do us the favor once again.

BOTTOM LINE
If we fracnhise Mankins, we should be open to him playing in 2011 for the patriots for $12M. If there is no CBA signed, franchising Mankins will be automatic. We have the cap room and can't sign any free agents from other teams, or even our own after the first week in March.

Im on the fence about it, if he want's to be the highest paid guard in football maybe its better to tag and trade him and pick up a 1st or second round pick for him.

 

[UofApatsfan]

Re: Mankins' latest comment

It's Krafts own fault if that comment bothers him but hopefully it doesn't.

 

[mgteich]

Re: Mankins' latest comment

In the end, IF THERE IS A NEW CBA, Mankins will have a choice of many teams. We are patriots fans; we always think that a player should and would choose the patriots.

Mankins may choose the patriots. He may not. I would think that given that there will be several offers, I don't see why the patriots would be his favorite choice.

 

[MassPats38]

Re: Mankins' latest comment

I did NOT say that there was no chance.

In any case, Mankins came back to show the 32 teams how valuable he is. He has accomplished his goal.

I WAS NOT quoting you (implicit in the lack of quotation marks). I was responding why I was more optimistic than you appear to be.

And not sure how an extra three games would increase his apparent value with all the seasons (80 games over 5 full seasons) logged with the Pats. He is already objectively considered valuable by other teams, so the extra three games wouldn't appear to significantly influence his asking price. If anything, it would appear to represent an increased risk of injury that might actually decrease his value to other teams if that possibility were realized.