Wilfork's 2015 cap number

[Miguel]

Wilfork's 2015 cap=$8,943,333
3 million salary
300,000 weight bonus
200,000 offseason workout bonus
4m roster bonus due on 3/10 (1st day of 2015 League Year)
500,000 46-man active - $31,250 per game
500,000 LTBE incentive - 70% playing-time AND Pats making it to the divisional round
433,333 prorated signing bonus

Vince has 866,664 left in prorated signing bonus.

 

[mayoclinic]

Ouch.

 

[BobDigital]

Well I will say this. The way Vince has played this year he is making it very hard to just part ways. But I must also say 9M is top end DT money. That is what you pay guys that can both stop the run and pass rush and just wreck havoc. Though Wilfork has played good he has not played 9M dollars good. Seeing how he has come back form his injury though I think he probably has 2 years left if rotated by Branch/Siliga. He would probably be happy making less next year if he gains security in a future year.

Offer him 2 years 12 M with 8 guaranteed. I think he has shown he is worth that level of money and it would not be a disrespectful amount to offer,

Too put it in perspective the cap hits for DTs this year..)

Suh - 22M (I don't care how good he is. Too much).
Gerald McCoy 21M (LOL)
Geno Atkins - 9M
Ahtyba Rubin 8.2M
Barry Corfield 7.7M
Wilfork 7.3M*
Linval Joseph 6.6M
Marcell Dareus 6.5M
Kyle Williams 6.25M
Kendall Langford 6M

 

[Marinlik]

I think Vince has been better than I would have expected him to be this year. But I really can't justify that cap hit for him. If he where still in his prime then sure, but he isn't. He gets pushed around more than he has been before. He has struggled with detaching from blocks to tackle RBs(hits them when they pass so they drag a few yards, instead of before the LOS more often than before), doesn't get the pass pressure he used too. Sure it's the first year since his injury, but at his age I don't think he will improve much more from this. I still like him. But not for that kind of money. I'd rather keep Siliga and Branch for a fraction of that.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

You can't renegotiate a contract twice during the same league year, right? That means that the Pats will have to pay the $4M roster bonus before they can consider restructuring the contract, which may or may not be successful. So it's pay him the $4M or cut him, no in-betweens.

Tough situation to be in, and a decision I'm glad I don't have to make. Wilfork's done everything asked of him and came back remarkably strong after such a tough injury. But when comparing $8.5M in new money for 2015 versus an additional $433,333 dead money charge for cutting him, and I just don't think this is going to end well for anyone.....

 

[voluntarysaftey]

We should've let Vince play out the original contract this year and then tried getting a discount on his free agent contract (cause in reality the likelihood of him leaving the Pats for his last couple of years is small).
The Pats did not get a favorable contract extension out of him even after trying to play hardball with him.

 

[Brady6]

Odd to me that I have seen so much talk about Bolden, Amendola, etc. being the saviors yesterday but in reality the difference in the game was the field goal that Wilfork blocked. He is still the best NT in the NFL and a great leader if we cannot find a way to make his cap number work I will be disappointed.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

We should've let Vince play out the original contract this year and then tried getting a discount on his free agent contract (cause in reality the likelihood of him leaving the Pats for his last couple of years is small).
The Pats did not get a favorable contract extension out of him even after trying to play hardball with him.

You have to give and take. The Patriots were afraid that they would have a huge 2014 cap hit for a player who couldn't come back from a major injury. They couldn't take the risk of a normal extension because that would just delay the problem. They agreed to an incentive-laden compromise, where the Pats got off the hook scott-free if Wilfork didn't come back, but Wilfork would get his continued large paydays if he could come back.
The issue is that we're seeing a guy that came mostly back but not 100% back. How do you handle that, especially when he's a team captain and you've had contentious negotiations in the past?

 

[mgteich]

You can't renegotiate a contract twice during the same league year, right? That means that the Pats will have to pay the $4M roster bonus before they can consider restructuring the contract, which may or may not be successful. So it's pay him the $4M or cut him, no in-betweens.

Tough situation to be in, and a decision I'm glad I don't have to make. Wilfork's done everything asked of him and came back remarkably strong after such a tough injury. But when comparing $8.5M in new money for 2015 versus an additional $433,333 dead money charge for cutting him, and I just don't think this is going to end well for anyone.....

You speak as if the team cannot negotiate with Wilfork until the 2nd day of the new season after the bonus is paid. That simply isn't the case.

The patriots are allowed to negotiate with a player under contract. On the first day of the new season the patriots can

1) cut Wilfork

2) announce a new deal, with a pay cut

3) announce a new deal with a new bonus and moving some salary to bonus (saving $3M of cap room, with no pay cut, or

4) or whether the team will simply pay Wilfork the $4M.
========

Perhaps, the 2014 contract was just a fake contract with the team having to make a decision before March first. Or, perhaps the team actually intended (and intends) to pay Wilfork the money if he played well enough in 2014.

We all recall the speculations and negotiations least year. Many (most?) of us didn't think that Wilfork could possibly play as well he has. And we all recall Wilfork's past negotiations. IMHO, if Wilfork is asked to discuss a pay cut, Wilfork's agent will simply say that his client will be happy to discuss his contract starting on the 2nd day of the new league year.

All this being said, the BOTTOM LINE is Belichick is Belichick, and we have a clue what he will do. And we well understand that past suggestions or discussions mean exactly zero. Loyalty means exactly zero. Well, these things mean something. Belichick would certainly praise Wilfork to the rafters. no matter what his decision.

 

[Sciz]

The Pats had leverage last year because Wilfork was recovering from a serious injury and it still sounds like it took some player intervention to convince him to stick around. Fully healthy and playing at a high level, I have a really hard time imagining that he'd be willing to redo those same negotiation talks again. At least based on the public information from last offseason, it looks to me like they'll either need to pay him or expect that he's gone.

 

[luuked]

We have some capable depth at his position with Siliga, Branch and Jones. Also, despite everything we went to the AFCCG last year w/o Vince and it wasn't the run defense that lost us that game. Now, obviously we are better with Wilfork but if you carefully consider it all his presence is more luxury than necessity. Especially at that price.

I don't see him returning with this contract.

 

[Miguel]

Hammer of Thor, I am pretty sure that the Pats and Wilfork don't have to wait a year to redo his current deal.

 

[Miguel]

Yes, last year the Pats went to the AFCCG last year w/o Wilfork. It is also true that the Pats were among the worst teams in defending against the rush. This year the Pats are much improved defending the run. Wilfork has played in every game this year. There looks to be a correlation.

 

[Fencer]

Wilfork's 2015 cap=$8,943,333

I suspect you mean that 4 to be a 3.

 

[patfanken]

Vince is just one of several contracts that are going to have be dealt with in the 3 or 4 weeks between the superbowl and the start of the new year. Lots and lots of huge decisions need to be made by the organization. Vince is going to be just one of them.

Its miraculous to me how well Vince has played coming off such at traumatic injury at his age, weight and position. If the matter is temporary cap relief, the simple solution is to take some of his 2015 income and give it up front in a bonus and spread that money over the 2015-17 seasons That could drop his 2015 cap number to around the $6MM area, but will likely increase the dead money obligation when we finally part ways in a year or 2.

I don't think Vince is going to want to take a pay cut, however I don't think he'll have a problem with Mr Kraft writing him around a $8MM check so the the Pats can lower their 2015 cap number.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Vince is just one of several contracts that are going to have be dealt with in the 3 or 4 weeks between the superbowl and the start of the new year. Lots and lots of huge decisions need to be made by the organization. Vince is going to be just one of them.

Its miraculous to me how well Vince has played coming off such at traumatic injury at his age, weight and position. If the matter is temporary cap relief, the simple solution is to take some of his 2015 income and give it up front in a bonus and spread that money over the 2015-17 seasons That could drop his 2015 cap number to around the $6MM area, but will likely increase the dead money obligation when we finally part ways in a year or 2.

I don't think Vince is going to want to take a pay cut, however I don't think he'll have a problem with Mr Kraft writing him around a $8MM check so the the Pats can lower their 2015 cap number.

In the almost 15 years BB has run this team, the only player 34 years old that has made more than $6m a year is Brady.

Love VW but there is no way he sees the $4m bonus w/o redoing his deal so it's way south of $8m in 2015. Like 1/2.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Odd to me that I have seen so much talk about Bolden, Amendola, etc. being the saviors yesterday but in reality the difference in the game was the field goal that Wilfork blocked. He is still the best NT in the NFL and a great leader if we cannot find a way to make his cap number work I will be disappointed.

Bianca,
I enjoy your posts here and am happy you've moved on from focusing on Amendola's over payment $ that should have gone to your husband.

 

[Brady6]

Bianca,
I enjoy your posts here and am happy you've moved on from focusing on Amendola's over payment $ that should have gone to your husband.

I'll save this post to my drive and log my forum tracker that we had communication today but I am going to have to wait a few months before I quote this post with a response.

On a more serious note, Merry Christmas to you and your family Pissah. You are one of the best guys on this board and I hope Santa rewards you for that.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

Hammer of Thor, I am pretty sure that the Pats and Wilfork don't have to wait a year to redo his current deal.

@Miguel - Thank you -- I must misunderstand the restriction then. The specific concern I have becomes moot.

@mgteich -- you are right about the early renegotiations, of course, I was just concerned they couldn't get the max reduction they could (if they wanted to) because they couldn't convert the roster bonus into anything else without releasing him. And as you note, perhaps the team does view his play plus leadership as worth $9M. I was just trying to play out the scenario where they didn't.

 

[patsfan-1982]

one of my all time fav pats but you cant have a 34 year old none pass rusher making 8 million next year, they need to bring his cap hit down to 3 or 4 million or just cut him