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See that's the kind of stuff we don't get enough of on the main board. Count me among those who just took for granted that CJones was better than Vallano. Now its something to watch in TC and adds a little bit more depth at the DT position.
Please allow me to preface this by mentioning that I absolutely worship this guy. I love the way he plays FootBall, I love his Sustained Dedication to the 1000's of little things that he's done to sustain his Greatness and his Health, I love his Dedication to'is Mates and his Wife...And I love the way he goes about everything.
And I'm damned if I consider a cold-blooded straight-out Cut to be the best way to go with someone who's done so much to forge our Legacy...and who has meant and continues to mean so much to New EngLand.
This is my Take on a difficult subject...
If my understanding of Vince Wilfork's 5 Year/$40,000,000 Contrat that he's currently playing under is correct, he essentially signed a 4 Year Deal with a Team Option for the 5th Year, the latter of which is 2014.
It's perfectly common: He raked in $25,000,000 in absolutely well deserved Guarantees, those being the $18,000,000 Signing Bonus ~ in March of 2010 ~ and the ensuing 3 Years Salaries, with Salaries of $7,500,000 each in 2013 and 2014, neither of which was guaranteed.
My point being: Vince Wilfork is an intelligent man who understood the Darwinian nature of the Salary Cap, and signed that Contract with the full understanding that Salary Cap considerations ~ the ProRated Signing Bonus ~ effectively guaranteed the 2013 Salary, but that either poor performance or Injury would almost certainly render the 2014 Year Null & Void.
And so it is.
Point being: Vince Wilfork neither warrants nor, I'm quite confident, wishes for our Pity. Paying Players lofty Salaries out of Sentiment or misplaced Appreciation ~ though God knows any Patriots fan worships this guy ~ when they've already been lucratively rewarded, is the fastest way I can imagine to transform an annual Super Bowl Team into a Lottery Team.
Vince Wilfork earned every penny of those 4 Years and the Bonus. I'm glad he got it, and gratefull for'is phenomenal Play, over the last Decade. And I would also add that if Coach Bill hadn't persisted in his idiotically abusive insistence on playing Wilfork on virtually every freaking Down for the last 2 or 3 Years ~ a Practice which I repeatedly warned would come to a traumatic and disastrous end ~ then we'd probably not be having this Discussion, as Wilfork would probably never have suffered the Catastrophic Injury which I repeatedly warned against.
But It Is What It Is.
What remains to be done now is of course to look forward and evaluate Potential Costs and Potential Benefits.
Achilles Injuries are taking smaller bites out of Player's Careers than they used to, but unless you're Adrian Peterson, I'm expecting that your first Year back is going to be what I term a Recovery Year ~ one in which you gradually get stronger and incrementally recover the Power and Agility ~ hopefully all of it, if you're young enough ~ that you previously enjoyed.
In English: It would be foolish to expect Vince Wilfork to regain his former form until 2015...and in 2015 he will turn 34.
Players tend to peak at around 30, though some ~ like Wilfork ~ sustain an high level of Efficacy well beyond that age.
But Wilfork was already showing signs, earlier this Year, that the excessive wear and tear of far too many Snaps for far too many Games had finally combined with the advancing Years, at long last, to slow'm down.
Whether or not Wilfork makes it back for the 2014 Campaign is an open question, though my money's on him. And I like his Chances of playing for another 2 or 3 Years, preferably on half the Snaps, and playing effectively.
But I also expect far less than the Dominance of the last Decade.
It stands to reason, yes?
If we were to simply cut Vince Wilfork loose, I don't expect that he'd get much more than the Vet Minimum.
But neither would I wish to play HardBall with a guy who's given so much to build and enrich the Legacy of this Team.
I'd like to offer the guy a 3 Year Contract ~ technically a Restructure ~ for $2,500,000 each, and even pile on Incentives of the Not Likely To Be Earned kind for Snaps and a combination of Snaps & Championships.
That would neatly carve 2/3 of this Year's negotiable Cap Impact Dollars from the Cap, a cool $5,000,000.
And it wouldn't commit a single future Penny, yet would retain his Services for 3 Years if he returns to effective Play, as I expect, and allowing us the option of cutting him, if Gods Forbid, he doesn't recover well enough.
Some will foolishly look at that as his playing the 2nd and 3rd Year for free, considering the $7,500,000 that he's nominally slotted to earn this Year. But of course the Reality is that money is already vapor.
I'd just like to state for the record that it is a great pleasure to count myself among those of you who are giddy with happiness and joy and who are jacked that we re-upped Vince Wilfork!!:rocker:
1 ~ There's no need to rub it in the face of anyone who was "assuming" we'd cut'm and then danced with bitter glee when they foolishly believed their assumptions confirmed. They made their own graves.
2 ~ OK. Maybe a little!!
