Would You Sign Any Of These Players?

[mgteich]

The only one that is reasonable is Kelly, if he is healthy for camp. And, we can afford to wait to decide whether to cut him.

Wilfork $8M (including workout and wright bonuses)
Kelly $2.45M (including game bonuses, $1.95 without)
Sopoaga $2M

In some sense, it may be that simple.

 

[Kontradiction]

Wilfork would have to prove to me that he's capable of at least returning to some semblance of what he was. After that, he would have to restructure his contract. I'd bring back Kelly assuming his knee returns to full health. I'd drive Sopoaga to the airport.

 

[manxman2601]

The only one that is reasonable is Kelly, if he is healthy for camp. And, we can afford to wait to decide whether to cut him.

Wilfork $8M (including workout and wright bonuses)
Kelly $2.45M (including game bonuses, $1.95 without)
Sopoaga $2M

In some sense, it may be that simple.

Unless they think he'll be affected his injury into the 2014 regular season, Kelly's a lock for me. Our pass rush looked so much better when Kelly was there and so did our secondary. Pre Kelly's injury, we had an elite looking defense.

 

[Froob]

Sopoaga isn't even worth mentioning. 99.99% chance he gets cut unless there was some injury we aren't aware of.

 

[PatsChamp88]

We'll they're all still signed......but

Wilfork (torn Achilles' tendon) love to see him back if he's healthy and willing to restructure his contract

Kelly (torn right ACL) love to see him back if he's healthy at his current salary

Sopoaga yeah nope

Both Wilfork and Kelly have tough injuries to comeback from at their ages.

 

[patsfan-1982]

Sopoaga is a JAG at best, I would bring back Kelly, wilfork has to redo has contract even if he is 90% of the 2012 wilfork a 10 million cap hit is just way to much for a 32 year old run stopper in todays NFL

 

[jefmblrd]

I would agree with the posters who say to bring back Kelly and Wilfork (as long as he restructures his deal). Sopoaga could come to camp for the veteran's minimum and see if he has anything left--but nothing guaranteed.

 

[superpats]

in todcap especially able to win your matchup or at least be compdtitive for a roster spot u must compete. Starter $$ u need to make a difference someway. 10mil+ u need to make a consitent impact n b a standout. Just look at super competitors n teams that knocked us from contention. What do they have in common. Impact players n difference makers at kdy positions that impact todays passing game. Pass rushers,complete wr"s,pass protectors,pasd defenders,and explosive lb"s.

With that said i would cut gregory,soapgag,wilson, wilfork,wendall. Restructure paycuts to or try to trade Mankins,amendola, Ninko,maybe restructure mayo n im sure brady would. Ninko if he doesnt take paycut i would tra

 

[superpats]

As i was saying ninko should take a paycut or trade him. If he cant b traded he would b cut. We have holes n needs on this team and mediocre players makinng starter$ good players being paid like all pros would go.

Prob is mankins n amendola r a bad situation. Overpaid yet cutting them doesnt help with cap. Amendola if he is willing to restructure could b traded maybe. If we bring in a true#1 amendola will b effective in slot. If we cant move amendola ghen we cant pay edelman. Sorry but we cant pay big bucks to 2 good but limited slot wr"s

We must make these cuts to free $$ to bring in difference makers in order to dig outa this mess of overpaid mediocre players just cuz bill liked them n they knew his system

 

[supafly]

We'll they're all still signed......but

Wilfork (torn Achilles' tendon) love to see him back if he's healthy and willing to restructure his contract

Kelly (torn right ACL) love to see him back if he's healthy at his current salary

Are you sure that Kelly tore his right ACL? The last I heard no one had any idea what the specific injury was.

It would seem awfully strange that they expected him to come back and even had him practice 4-5-6 weeks later on a torn ACL. That's news to me that I was not aware of.

If it's true, how would we really expect Kelly to return to full strength on a torn ACL in October? He'd likely need at least 10 full months or so for a man of his age. I think you may be mistaken, personally, although I could be wrong.

 

[supafly]

As i was saying ninko should take a paycut or trade him. If he cant b traded he would b cut. We have holes n needs on this team and mediocre players makinng starter$ good players being paid like all pros would go.

Prob is mankins n amendola r a bad situation. Overpaid yet cutting them doesnt help with cap. Amendola if he is willing to restructure could b traded maybe. If we bring in a true#1 amendola will b effective in slot. If we cant move amendola ghen we cant pay edelman. Sorry but we cant pay big bucks to 2 good but limited slot wr"s

We must make these cuts to free $$ to bring in difference makers in order to dig outa this mess of overpaid mediocre players just cuz bill liked them n they knew his system

Ninkovich was just recently extended, so it'd be very difficult (not to mention pointless and strange) to then immediately turn around and cut/trade him for no reason whatsoever. They knew exactly what they had in Ninkovich, which is a versatile, hard working player who can play different positions and do different things in terms of his responsibilities, despite his lack of elite talent. He fits in nicely in terms of what they are paying him.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

Are you sure that Kelly tore his right ACL? The last I heard no one had any idea what the specific injury was.

Jeff Howe of the Herald reported it about a week ago

The Blitz with Jeff Howe & Karen Guregian | Boston Herald

 

[meatface]

Jeff Howe of the Herald reported it about a week ago

The Blitz with Jeff Howe & Karen Guregian | Boston Herald

well then Kelly could very well be a cut, significant injuries to older players, especially DT just does not sound good. Its why I still think that there is a much greater chance of Wilfork getting cut than people think, I am not saying it is going to happen but thats a lot of money that they would save.

 

[goheels22002]

The only one that is reasonable is Kelly, if he is healthy for camp. And, we can afford to wait to decide whether to cut him.

Wilfork $8M (including workout and wright bonuses)
Kelly $2.45M (including game bonuses, $1.95 without)
Sopoaga $2M

In some sense, it may be that simple.

They are all signed already.

http://www.rotoworld.com/teams/contracts/nfl/ne/

 

[Brady6]

You cannot carry Wilfork’s cap hit past 3/11 that is just idiotic given he hasn’t played since October and is still not on the field. I love Wilfork but he isn’t a $11.5 million player, he will have to restructure or we have to cut ties, Kraft and Belichick would be negligent to carry his cap # given the uncertainty.

Even if we cut them outright they still hit our cap as follows:

Wilfork $4,095,000
Sopoaga $1,495,000
Kelly $920,000

I cannot see a scenario where we can’t sign Wilfork to a mutually beneficial contract with a cap hit of $4 million. Kelly I would also like to see back and I think he can be reworked as well, he had minimal interest last season and I don’t expect it to be better a year older coming off a torn ACL.

 

[Patsrock]

As i was saying ninko should take a paycut or trade him. If he cant b traded he would b cut. We have holes n needs on this team and mediocre players makinng starter$ good players being paid like all pros would go.

Ninko just extended on Sept 23 this year. His cap # is to 2.85m. To trade or cut him will be a cap hit of 4.75m. His 2014 $1m salary is full guaranteed.

The Blitz with Jeff Howe & Karen Guregian | Boston Herald


I would suggest you look at patscap.com when making player cuts/trade suggestions to see if thy at all make any sense.

 

[mgteich]

As you well know, that is not the point.

If these players were free agents, we wouldn't sign Wilfork or Sopoaga for anywhere near what we can save.

If we cut Wilfork and signed someone else to a one-year deal for $7.5M, the cap effect would be the same as keeping Wilfork under his present contract.

I suspect that Wilfork and Sopoaga understand that they will not be playing under their existing contracts.

They are all signed already.

New England Patriots - NFL Team Contracts - Rotoworld.com

 

[patfanken]

Wilfolk is going to have his contract reworked. That's a given. We can speculate what that number is from now until it's announced, but its going to happen. Vince's 2014 cap number will be significantly lower. You can make book on it.

So I think at a minimum this will be our DT corps when we start TC:

Wilfolk
Armstead
Siiga
CJones
Vellano
draft pick from the top 2 rounds (probably in the first)

While I'd love to have a healthy Kelly back, he'd not only give us some more size at the position, he give us some much need height. But I'm wondering where he'd fit, given we will only carry at most 5 DT's and more likely just 4.

Bottom line, we likely are going to go into TC next July with 8 true DT's. IF you agree with me that we'll pick at least one DT early, then 6 slots are pretty much taken, leaving only 2 slots open for any FA or late round pick.

In my mind, Wilfolk, Siliga, CJones, and the high draft pick are locks, with everyone else fighting for that last possible slot.

 

[Patsrock]

I cannot see a scenario where we can’t sign Wilfork to a mutually beneficial contract with a cap hit of $4 million.

I believe the min cap hit for a new deal with Wilfork would be 4.5M(vet min plus the 3.6 remaining signing bonus money). Not sure about that thou.

 

[Brady6]

I believe the min cap hit for a new deal with Wilfork would be 4.5M(vet min plus the 3.6 remaining signing bonus money). Not sure about that thou.

Yeah that sounds about right I'm not a cap expert though. If Wilfork plays in 2014 which I would expect he will I cannot envision it being on another team, I don't think he would draw much attention during the UFA period since he will not be able to pass a physical and will be far from playing shape.

In addition I would be curious of how people view Wilfork in terms of position at this stage of his career:

3-4 NT
3-4 DE
4-3 1-tech DT
4-3 3-tech DT

I don't think he could be a full time NT in a 0-tech alignment anymore, he isn't a good fit as a 3-4 DE in a 5-tech alignment because he isn't a great pass rusher, and the 4-3 teams prefer the 1-gap penetrating DTs. He fits really well here because our scheme is built to maximize his talents in the hybrid front but I don't think any other team is going to redesign there front for a 32 year old Wilfork. He would likely sign somewhere as a rotational run stopper who played on in the base defense and no team is going to pay big money for that in my opinion.