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What did you expect him to say, that he was all played out? Look at the realities of the situation. He can either play for a year or two at a decent, face-saving salary for a team like Oakland or retire a Patriot in one piece with his faculties still in tact.
) against that kind of undersized DL, the pendulum could be starting to swing back to some kind of equality between the passing and run game, and thus the continuing need to have run stuffers on your roster, even though they might not be 3 down players
I'm wondering if prospects for Vince's return at a lower number already were discussed and dismissed. His farewell letter to fans seems pretty final.theSome Comments on the Comments
1. I think there is a concerted effort on the part of the Copycat NFL to move to a "Seattle" model DL where the 320-340lb run stuffing fatty is being replaced by the 280-300lb pass rushing athlete.
2. HOWEVER, the success of RB's like Lynch, Murray, Bell, and Gray (
3. FO's rated Vince very highly vs the run game (+14 whatever that means) , even though most of us (including myself) felt he sipped a bit this past year from an elite run stuffer to "merely" one that was good.
4. Either way, the 34 year Vince was not going to be worth the $8MM cap hit he was due to have, so the not taking his option was something that both sides had to be expecting.
5.Now the question moves on to his future. Clearly he has some value, but at what price. Darnelle Dockett's contract could give us a clue for a older DLman. He got $2MM guaranteed with $2MM in incentives. Granted Dockett is a DE and might have more value as a potential pass rusher, but at least its an established base line for and older top end DLman.
6. Now 2 questions remain. One is will Vince be patient enough to wait until May to make his decision on where he wants to go? He did indicate in his statement, that he is going to be patient before he makes his decision. If he is, it will make it more likely comes back. By then the Pats will have a better idea of what their cap situation will be, and who they have in the daft.
However I'm not even sure if the Draft has anything to do with bringing back Vince even if we pick a DT/NT high. Even the Pats first round pick like Vince and Ty Warren have taken some time before they became impact players. Even so, the longer Vince remains out there the better the chance he come back.
7. The second question is if the Market actually becomes something like $2MM guaranteed and $2MM more in incentives would the Pats be willing to sign him to a deal that would create a $2-3MM cap hit for 2015, or have they truly moved on???
8. IMHO, Vince has been a stellar, HOF Patriot, both on and off the field. With the exception of 2014 and slightly in 2015, he was worth EVERY penny he made here, and now that I think about it, even in 2015, whatever value he lost in on field production, he made up for with his leadership and on field presence.
Like everyone else here, I wish him only the best, regardless of where he ends up.
Yes it did, IF you wanted to take in that context, Tune. However the market can have a very conciliatory effect on people sometimes. We've had a LOT of players who have had much, much harsher comments made about management before they came back as happy campers. In comparison, Vince's remarks couldn't have been more complimentary and gracious.
