Contracts to deal with

[HawaiianPatsfan]

???

What you say is true until March 11th.

And if his agent doesn't know what Revis is worth on the open market, Revis should fire him. Revis has no reason to sign with the patriots because he isn't sure what he can get on the open market. If that is his concern, he can be a free agent on March 11th and find out.

There is only a bidding war if the patriots opt not to honor Revis's 2015 contract for the additional 20 million. The cards are in the Patriots hands. Im pretty sure they would pay him if they have too. Especially considering the fact that it is likely he would be returning to the jets, and it will also piss off New England's front office to the point where they force him to stay.

 

[mgteich]

There is only a bidding war if the patriots opt not to honor Revis's 2015 contract for the additional 20 million. The cards are in the Patriots hands. Im pretty sure they would pay him if they have too. Especially considering the fact that it is likely he would be returning to the jets, and it will also piss off New England's front office to the point where they force him to stay.

1) I'm too lazy to post a poll. Who thinks that the patriots are willing to pay Revis $20M to play in 2015? Of course, he would likely go elsewhere in 2016. The franchise price would be $25M.
2) Revis is not playing for the jets. There are playoff quality teams that might be willing to add a top corner.

 

[meatface]

No worries!

The most favorable widely-held view of Arrington is that he excels as a slot CB but gets consistently burned on the outside. Also, he seems to have been game-planned onto the bench a couple of times even when the Pats played a lot of 3-CB sets, casting some doubt onto even his slot play.

I guess we will have to agree to disagree. I think that Arrington is great in the slot and I would certainly not want to create another need by cutting him considering the minimal cap savings.

 

[Patriots1364life]

I would be dissapointed in darrelle if they gave him a great deal and he leaves it on the table. He is very vital for our chances at a repeat. Wish he would be a team player here and gives us a small discount.

 

[Miguel]

Do not know how many times I can repeat myself but if Revis plays the 2015 season with his 25 million cap Number it will cost 30 million in 2016 to tag him.

 

[patsbrasilpatriotas]

Who is the best CB in FA after Revis , could someone tell me please ?

 

[pencilneckgeek]

Kudos, Stinkypete, for doing a good job of considering the numbers in your thoughts. I'll build off your framework to comment where I care to.

LS Danny Aiken He can be signed cheap with minimal guaranteed money. Sign him and some camp competition and see how it falls out.
DE Akeem Ayers He gets paid more elsewhere. Assuming Mayo takes a restructure, Hightower would provide the depth needed at rushing DE/OLB.
DT Alan Branch Probably let go in favor of a draft pick, unless there's a hang-up with Wilfork. Wilfork's situation will be resolved one way or the other before FA, so this is an easy decision to defer a month.
LB Jonathan Casillas. Agreed. He gets the BB star STer salary that can't be found elsewhere - maybe $2M.

OL Dan Connolly. I think he walks. Someone else will offer $5-$6 million.

He's not getting that much anywhere. I think he gets a one year deal commensurate to last year - $3M with <$1M guaranteed.

K Stephen Gostkowski. Signed for 4-5 years at ~$4M per. The value is there.

S Devin McCourty. Franchise tag

Disagree. That cap number is too high and makes it harder to resign him next year, as his cost will go up. I think they come in just shy of the franchise level ($35m/4), such that the cap hit this year is lower (~$6-7M) and it escalates with the increasing cap in future years.

RB Stevan Ridley. Vet minimum deal with modest bonus for a team player. Probably 1 year, although it could be 2 years, if the injury is bad enough that he isn't expected to have much of a chance to prove it this year. This would be a case of paying cash to a team player but not hurting the cap.

DT Sealver Siliga (restricted). Also a no brainer at RFA money. I think Siliga gets extended long term post draft.

Agreed, although I think the timing of an extension will be during pre-season. He is worth locking-up before his value goes up, if he doesn't want to take a chance and hold-out for more later. There is probably a good both side value proposition at $6M/3 with $1M guaranteed, if the funds exist.

RB Shane Vereen. This is a RB that the market is primed to overpay. I think he gets an offer he can't refuse from a team like Indy.

Agreed. James White gets his shot, unless one of the defensive contracts falls apart. If Revis walks or Wilfork get cut, due to an unwillingness to restructure (I'm convinced Mayo will restructure), Vereen can probably be signed for $18M/4.

Revis. I have the feeling he will stick around for a few "1 year deals" and jump ship as the Brady/Belichick eras come to an end. $14 million will keep him.

I think you have the average dollar value right, but Revis took his chances with injury this year. He's not signing for less than $42M/3, and I'm betting he'd lean toward $52M/4 or more.

Wilfork. I don't see him taking another pay cut after last offseason. I don't think they'll be ready to consider cutting him for another year.

Agreed on Wilfork's side, but I don't think the Pats will accept a $9M hit for him. Unfortunately, I don't think he has a lot of mileage left, so there is little room to negotiate. He's due $15M/2 years with $4M guaranteed in a month. The only space I see for a deal is around $18M/3, but Vince may not want to play that long at that price.

Mayo. Mayo has very little leverage given the 2 season ending injuries and emergence of Collins and Hightower. It's his turn to restructure, and I think he does it. The defense is much better with him.

Agreed. He's not going to get top dollar after his injuries, and he's more valuable to the Pats than anyone else. He's going to have a much reduced salary with incentive clauses for this and perhaps future years.

Arrington. Arrington stays. I think he is paid to his value. He's the best slot CB they have. If he gets cut, it's because Dennard, Ryan, and Butler all show improvement next pre-season and somebody steps-up to take his place on ST. I don't see all that happening, but there's not enough near-term cap savings to make it worthwhile to cut ties with him.

Amendola. I think Amendola has earned his place on the offense. Something clicked on in his game in early December and he was an essential piece to the playoff run.
Browner. I don't see a better option at the money.

Agreed on both, but I think Amendola is in line for a pay cut. There's no bonus due this year, so the negotiation can wait until we see whether Dobson, Boyce, Tyms or a new guy take a step up next year.

 

[Miguel]

Fyi - Sealver Siliga is an ERFA

 

[Huckleberry1]

Watching Shane Vereen on NFLN and he does not sound like he's going anywhere.

 

[Love The Drake]

Vereen is a great fit to keep in this offense as long as we have a wink wink deal with McDaniels for the long term.
Do not want to see us lock up McDaniels system guys only to watch him walk next season and fill his spot with a offensive coordinator who doesn't create oppurtunies in the passing game abundantly for a back of that skillset.
He is not a pound the rock move the chains guy. He is a bit like Faulk but not as tough as runner and 4 million a season is to high especially if McDaniels is not around for the long haul.

 

[Fencer]

Vereen is a great fit to keep in this offense as long as we have a wink wink deal with McDaniels for the long term.
Do not want to see us lock up McDaniels system guys only to watch him walk next season and fill his spot with a offensive coordinator who doesn't create oppurtunies in the passing game abundantly for a back of that skillset.
He is not a pound the rock move the chains guy. He is a bit like Faulk but not as tough as runner and 4 million a season is to high especially if McDaniels is not around for the long haul.

Any OC the Patriots have will run a similar offense, adjusted for the personnel that season.

• They'll ALL favor short/intermediate passing.
• They'll all include passing that's sufficiently short to rely on YAC.
  
• Whether they favor dual tight ends or not will have a great deal to do with who the second tight end is.
• They'll include more than a keep-the-defense-honest level of deep passing if and only if there's a receiver who can actually adjust well enough to catch Brady's questionably-aimed deep passes.

Etc.

 

[RIpats88]

patriots will pay revis top CB money. Patriots generally pay what the market dictates. they accurately read that welker was worth 6-8million but he over-analyzed the market. Belichick also saw that he was declining in talent.

Revis on the other hand is still an elite player and should be for the next 4years, the top cornerback market has been set at 14million. You offer revis 15-16million and he will take the deal IMO. he seemed to really enjoy it here, and said he would LOVE to be back after the superbowl.

not to mention, the patriots pay for elite talent. Without revis this defense goes back to what it was before talib. having revis to lock down one side of the field one on one is what allows hightower/collins to blitz, allows the patriots to take out a player with McCourty helping.

maybe the Jets/Bills would give him 18million...but does he want to play for those two sorry franchises and not make the playoffs? I dont see it.

Unless the patriots give him some extreme lowball offer(and I doubt they will) he will be back. You dont let HOF talent walk out the door

 

[reflexblue]

Edit: Miguel has some corrections below.

Per http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/.../full_breakdown_each_patriots_contract_length, the list of guys who are going into FA in this offseason is:

LS Danny Aiken Replace him, please.
DE Akeem Ayers I'd love to bring him back. And maybe he's still accomplished little enough that he's affordable. We REALLY need an edge rusher besides Jones and Ninkovich.
DT Alan Branch It would be great to re-sign him. Perhaps he'd be pretty cheap.
LB Jonathan Casillas. He's a depth guy. Nice to have if he's cheap.
OL Dan Connolly. I think he should and will be kept on a short deal.
FB James Develin (restricted). McDaniels seems to like him. He's cheap.
K Stephen Gostkowski. Deserves to be paid. But can he be replaced on the cheap?
S Devin McCourty. Expensive and worth it.
LB James Morris. Who?
WR Greg Orton. Who?
RB Stevan Ridley. Worth more to another team that doesn't have Blount and Gray.
DT Sealver Siliga (restricted). We NEED one of Siliga and Branch. Having both would be nice.
WR Brian Tyms (restricted). Meh.
RB Shane Vereen. His position is a crucial one on the Pats. James White hasn't proved much.
LB Chris White. Meh.

Guys who it is often suggested should be restructured or cut include:

Revis. I think he now understands enough about building a championship team that a deal can be worked out.
Wilfork. The players want him to stay. I think something will be worked out.
Mayo. The argument against keeping him is that at >50% sub, who needs 3 top LBs? But Hightower and Collins both seem versatile enough to make me disregard that. I want him kept.
Arrington. Tough call.
Amendola. I think he'll be worth more to other teams.
Browner. Some people think his pay should be cut; I don't understand why.

Other guys who I'd like to see upgraded for reasons of talent are:

Devey. We need new interior OL blood, and he's the weakest link.
Boyce. Maybe he finally gets it. But I don't assume that Dobson/Boyce/Tyms is enough after Edelman/LaFell/the TEs.
Vellano. But we have Easley.
Hooman. But he's pretty decent.

nice conclusions imo, i think it wouldn't be to hard to up grade on hooman, i'd like to keep arrington, mayo (although mayo is no longer indispensable) amendola finally showed up during the last half of the year and into the playoffs but could be upgraded. I'd really like to keep ayers, hes versital and we need another pass rusher, ghost has to be signed, hes clutch and has a good leg, it may not be easy to find a replacement with his qualities. OF course revis and mccourty need to be retained.

 

[Bruins29]

You perhaps could upgrade Amendola, but at what cost. Also, you have to hope that this player jells with Brady which has been an issue in the past. If they think they have that guy on the roster and dont have to put big $ into it great. But IMO having DA and JE work routes together is not easy to defend and the way JE plays (full tilt full time) means there is always a chance of him being banged up or god forbid injured. DA is great insurance there.

Plus you have to factor in the great Kick Returns we get from DA.

 

[Fencer]

You perhaps could upgrade Amendola, but at what cost. Also, you have to hope that this player jells with Brady which has been an issue in the past. If they think they have that guy on the roster and dont have to put big $ into it great. But IMO having DA and JE work routes together is not easy to defend and the way JE plays (full tilt full time) means there is always a chance of him being banged up or god forbid injured. DA is great insurance there.

Plus you have to factor in the great Kick Returns we get from DA.

Amendola is likely gone for a cheaper downgrade, which would be an understandable pity. I don't think kick returns are the reason he'd be missed.

 

[Bruins29]

Amendola is likely gone for a cheaper downgrade, which would be an understandable pity. I don't think kick returns are the reason he'd be missed.

Agree but it was a nice bonus. If DA is gone perhaps Boyce could contribute there and in games. IsAD ready to contribute? Is there a FA out there who can be plugged in? Plus even if we move on from DA we still eat some cap money which cuts into the value of his replacement.

 

[Huckleberry1]

Vereen is a great fit to keep in this offense as long as we have a wink wink deal with McDaniels for the long term.
Do not want to see us lock up McDaniels system guys only to watch him walk next season and fill his spot with a offensive coordinator who doesn't create oppurtunies in the passing game abundantly for a back of that skillset.
He is not a pound the rock move the chains guy. He is a bit like Faulk but not as tough as runner and 4 million a season is to high especially if McDaniels is not around for the long haul.

MacDaniels is running,the,Patriots offense not the other way around and Vereen is a valuable commodity regardless of who is running it.

 

[SalemPats]

Edit: Miguel has some corrections below.
1. Revis
2.McCourty.
3.Akeem Ayers
4. Arrington
5. Vereen
6. Siliga
7. Casillas
8. Connolly
9. Tyms
10. Develin

-Devin and Revis are no brainers.
-Ayers proved to be a valuable rotation guys. You can never have enough guys who can rush the passer.
-Arrington is a very good slot receiver.
-Vereen understands our complex offense and is a reliable 3rd down back.

the rest are players who i think can again contribute next year at cheap deals

 

[Huckleberry1]

The way people around here are acting the Patriots won't be able to field a team next year.

 

[JMC00]

Watching Shane Vereen on NFLN and he does not sound like he's going anywhere.

Hopefully he tells his agent that. Which is David Dunn who is also Welker's agent, so who knows if there is still any bad blood on their part.