The deadline for Mankins to sign his tender is approaching. June 15th. If he hasn't signed it by then the team can replace it with a tender at 110% of his 2009 salary (or roughly cut his tender in half). As fate would have it the Patriots have scheduled a mandatory OTA for June 15-16. Hopefully he doesn't decide to draw a line in the sand. I'm not sure what his trade/market value is on the eve of 2011. We never heard a whisper about anyone kicking his RFA tires.
I like Mankins, but while he's been durable he hasn't been as consistent as he should be - something you can say about this OL in general for the last couple of seasons - and the fact that he claims they never approached him about an extension (although Bill has kept in touch since the offseason) would lead me to believe they have some underlying concerns about the kind of long term deal they would be willing to sign him to... After all, they extended Kaczur (albeit at basically starter if we can't upgrade and backup swing player if we can rates he apparently realized was his market) and Wilfork and re-signed Banta Cain and Bodden. I think if Mankins wanted to take darn good OG salary and they had no concerns about motivation and focus going forward under that circumstance, he'd have been extended by now. I think if he wants to be a top 3 paid OG he's going to be playing elsewhere next season.
There is a reason Pioli took Asamoah this year and Pittsburgh took Pouncey. Good guards used to be a dime a dozen. No longer the case. Yet it's a lot easier to project a college OT or OC/C as a pro guard and pay him peanuts comparatively speaking for 5-6 years. Particularly if you have a solid technique driven OL coach. And as a rule OLinemen don't last much more than 8-9 years before it's all about technique and scheme and surrounding talent keeping them going. Mankins is not only replaceable, he's potentially upgradeable if you have 4 picks in the first 62. If someone else wants to sign that player to a 5 year $40M+ contract, have at it...
The Kraft's and Bill aren't looking at extensions any differently in this one uncapped year than they ever have, because they know that a cap will be back and they have an internal salary structure to maintain as well. That's one of the core principles of their system. And unlike the fan base, they have the discipline to maintain it rather than cave in fear of making a mistake. Bill knows what he's got on the roster, what he's got in the pipeline, who's likely to be available in 2011 via draft, trade, FA or cut. He also knows just how good Mankins truly is...while all we as fans have are perceptions.