Use Of 2011 Franchise & Transition Tags

[mgteich]

MANKINS and LIGHT seem like candidates for tags if they aren't extended.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

MANKINS and LIGHT seem like candidates for tags if they aren't extended.

Wouldn't Mankins be the highest or maybe second highest paid guy on the team if we used the Franchise tag on him? Isn't the O-line tag worth over 10 million a season?

Seems like a lot of money for an OG.

I keep hoping BB bends a little and Mankins bends a little and we meet in the middle on a long term deal with enough guaranteed money to make everybody happy.

 

[mgteich]

How about $22M over 3 years including a $8M Bonus, plus incentives? That also would be $11M in 2011.

Wouldn't Mankins be the highest or maybe second highest paid guy on the team if we used the Franchise tag on him? Isn't the O-line tag worth over 10 million a season?

Seems like a lot of money for an OG.

I keep hoping BB bends a little and Mankins bends a little and we meet in the middle on a long term deal with enough guaranteed money to make everybody happy.

 

[The Brandon Five]

MANKINS and LIGHT seem like candidates for tags if they aren't extended.

Wouldn't we run the risk of a repeat of Mankin's 2010 performance? (I.e. only get half a season out of him)?

 

[mgteich]

Yes.

The difference is cold hard cash. This time Mankins would get $12M for signing on the dotted line for 2011 services, much more than the $3M or so he would have gotten las year.

Personally, I think that there is a reasonable chance of securing both Light and Mankins with long term contracts. Obviously, next offseason is the time to review the cap, but given our roster and contract statuses, I think that, for 2011, Light and Mankins are of the highest priority. Obviously, a free agent running back is also of high priority, but it not clear how much belichick will be willing to spend on a running back.

Wouldn't we run the risk of a repeat of Mankin's 2010 performance? (I.e. only get half a season out of him)?

 

[serifyn]

If the Patriots use the franchise tag on Mankins they had better use it to trade him, cash or not, hes a man of principle and he has proven that over the past 8 weeks, he wants the security of a long term deal and we wants to get his value out of being on the open market so he can choose his deal.

Keep in mind that Mankins would have to sign the franchise tag contract before he could be traded and being the malcontent he is he would probably just sit out until the end of the trade deadline again.

i wouldent be surprised if he has a verbal agreement with the patriots to return early (as he did) if they agreed not to franchise tag him.

either way, i doubt he holds enough of a grudge against the team not to sign with them if they offer the most money in free agency, but then you get into the whole arguement of whether or not it is worth it to pay a guard 7-10 million per year.

my guess is that with the emergence of Connolly and their many draft picks this year, they go cheap, let mankins go an draft a guard.

 

[Lamanai]

i wouldent be surprised if he has a verbal agreement with the patriots to return early (as he did) if they agreed not to franchise tag him.

But wasn't this part of Mankins' beef with the team, that he said Kraft is a liar and didn't follow through on his word...?

BK: "No Franchise? I never promised that...I guess you think that makes me a liar, huh? You're tagged, bozo. hahahahaha"

I tend to think Kraft's word is rock solid. But just in case, maybe he got BB's word on it too...

 

[MaineMan]

But wasn't this part of Mankins' beef with the team, that he said Kraft is a liar and didn't follow through on his word...?

BK: "No Franchise? I never promised that...I guess you think that makes me a liar, huh? You're tagged, bozo. hahahahaha"

I tend to think Kraft's word is rock solid. But just in case, maybe he got BB's word on it too...

First of all, I very much doubt that BB has anything whatsoever to do with contract negotiations and there probably isn't anything to "patch up" in that regard between Mankins and the Coach. So, I also doubt that BB has promised Mankins anything.

I believe that what Mankins was pissed about - the "liar" thing - goes back to the beginning of 2009 (his contract year). Mankins says that he was told that, if he played out his contract in 2009, "he'd be taken care of" in the uncapped year (maybe this came directly from Kraft and maybe just from the FO, supposedly under Kraft's "word"). Mankins, I believe, interpreted this as meaning that he'd get a new contract starting in 2010. What he got, instead, was the RFA tender and a new contract offer starting in 2011. So, he felt that he was mislead.

According to statements I've read from Mankins' agent, there may also be an issue with the length of the contract, which was reportedly six years from the Pats whereas Mankins only wanted four or five years. Putting that together with the thought that he wanted a new deal to start in 2010, it seems that Mankins was thinking he'd then be looking at a potential third "big payday" at age 32 or 33.

Anyway, I think all of this means that the Pats wouldn't tag Mankins next year without his prior consent and without negotiations with him on a long term deal being close to fruition.

WRT Light, I don't see the Pats tagging him either. He'll either be willing to work out a decent deal with the Pats or he'll go elsewhere for significantly more money (and Vollmer will switch ends and we'll draft a new RT, probably with Carolina's 2nd round pick).