1.) Nothing Polian has said has been counter to that (at least, nothing that I've read on the subject)
2.) The Jets and their players are not the Colts and Peyton Manning.
Seymour
Law
Samuel
etc...
All "important to the team", etc...
The fact is that the Patriots have a history of screwing around with their top players, and/or ending up underpaying/being difficult when money becomes involved. It wasn't that long ago (2008) that Moss was reportedly getting annoyed with the free agent negotiations, for that matter, and the same happened with Wilfork, until the Patriots finally got that deal done. The Colts don't really have that sort of history with Manning. Now, you can bag on the media all you want, but that's not going to change the reality, and it's not just the media that views the Patriots in this light. It's not something that happens with every deal, but it happens often enough that it gets noticed. Hell, we've had at least one thread on an agent's angle regarding this sort of thing in the recent past:
http://www.patsfans.com/new-england...t-alvin-keels-says-ne-toughest-negotiate.html
The griping about the "disconnect" storyline is just another example of Patriots fans getting their manties in a bunch over something that they are generally proud of, just because the media has portrayed it from a different angle than the one that Patriots fans brag about. Patriots fans love to crow about how the Patriots will only pay so much, will not let players throw off the salary system, expect top players to take a little less, etc.... But, when the media notes that and spins it as "cheap" or "difficult" or some other less than 100% flattering phraseology, the Patriots fans lose their freakin' minds.