Could Willie Retire?

[drpatriot]

I was wondering about people's opinions on this. Right now McGinest is 34 and has played in the league for 12 years. Though it probably wouldn't happen because he still has a place with the Patriots, he might want to retire on top.

How likely is this to happen, with Willie on the verge of getting cut by the Pats?

If he did, how much more likely would we be to take an OLB in the draft?

 

[maverick4]

re:

If Willie retired, Vrabel would slide over for a Vrabel-Colvin outside.

That would create a need for a starting inside linebacker, to be gotten through trade or draft.

Willie might want to play a few years, if he feels that another year or two of good play will somehow get him into the HOF.

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[mgteich]

making another $10M probably doesn'y matter much???

If Willie retired, Vrabel would slide over for a Vrabel-Colvin outside.

That would create a need for a starting inside linebacker, to be gotten through trade or draft.

Willie might want to play a few years, if he feels that another year or two of good play will somehow get him into the HOF.

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[PatsWorldChamps]

I was wondering about people's opinions on this. Right now McGinest is 34 and has played in the league for 12 years. Though it probably wouldn't happen because he still has a place with the Patriots, he might want to retire on top.

How likely is this to happen, with Willie on the verge of getting cut by the Pats?

If he did, how much more likely would we be to take an OLB in the draft?

what are you talking about? verge of being cut? retire on top?

also, dont expect any rookie LB to step in and start for us.

 

[mgteich]

Willie will either restructure by March 2nd, retire by March 2nd or be cut. Otherwise a $3.5M roster bonus will be due.

 

[PATSNUTme]

At the post game PC after the Jacksonville game
Willie said , he wants to do things on his terms.

I took this to mean that he was going to play until HE decided he couldn't play at a high level. I don't think that he's there yet. And, he's not getting cut this yea.r

 

[maverick4]

re:

The Pats may cut him if he doesn't restructure. If they can't come to terms with something, I would count on Big Willie playing with another team than just calling it quits.

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[PatsWorldChamps]

The Pats may cut him if he doesn't restructure. If they can't come to terms with something, I would count on Big Willie playing with another team than just calling it quits.

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i agree that WM must restructure or be cut. However, i'd hardly call that "on the verge of being cut"? how many times has he already restructured?

 

[Fanfrom1960]

The Pats may cut him if he doesn't restructure. If they can't come to terms with something, I would count on Big Willie playing with another team than just calling it quits.

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Willie in another uniform would look about as bad, at least to a Patsfan, as Unitas in a Chargers, or Namath in a Rams uniform. Seeing Bettis in here this week as a Ram looked pretty weird too, even thought I saw him play for them.

 

[Bill's Girl]

At the post game PC after the Jacksonville game
Willie said , he wants to do things on his terms.

I took this to mean that he was going to play until HE decided he couldn't play at a high level. I don't think that he's there yet. And, he's not getting cut this yea.r

BB is not going to cut Willie! Where do people get this stuff? I agree that he will most likely be asked to restructure.

 

[ilduce06410]

da money again

Willie will either restructure by March 2nd, retire by March 2nd or be cut. Otherwise a $3.5M roster bonus will be due.

patriots ARE cold-blooded enough to cut him, and willie ray knows it.
to me he's a roman. phifer type, wants to stay in the league for a whiler. all he does in southern CA is work out, and he's obviously in shape to play. jim marshall played till he was 40, and IMO some of these mid-30s players are eyeballing that.
he may not retire until he loses his skills. i don't see him refusing to restructre. to me, a deal will happen. there may not even be any suspense about it. willie ray has made a LOT of money in the nfl. he owns a recording studio. i think he plays in the nfl for fun (sick individual). as long as they "respect" him, i think (pray) he'll be right here.

 

[Willie55]

BB is not going to cut Willie! Where do people get this stuff? I agree that he will most likely be asked to restructure.

If he refused to restructure, BB would. But IMO Willie will restructure making many a Patriot fan very happy.

 

[BelichickFan]

BB is not going to cut Willie! Where do people get this stuff? I agree that he will most likely be asked to restructure.

At $8.3M and a cap savings of $7M he absolutely would. Thankfully it likely won't come to that.

 

[hwc]

Willie will either restructure by March 2nd, retire by March 2nd or be cut. Otherwise a $3.5M roster bonus will be due.

I agree with that. As I look at the Pat's cap situation and where they can free up the money to survive, Willie's cap number has to be dealt with.

I expect them to work out a restructure if Willie wants to continue playing. But, I agree that one of the three listed above has to happen.

The other thing that desperately has to happen is a CBA extension so that the Pats can take Brady's $12 million roster bonus and $3 million of his base salary and prorate it over seven years. That would reduce Brady's salary number this year by about $4 million. If that doesn't happen, the Pats are going to struggle to come up with the cap room they need, especially considering that they don't have a kicker, a complete O-line, or much of a receiving corps under contract at the moment.

 

[hwc]

At $8.3M and a cap savings of $7M he absolutely would. Thankfully it likely won't come to that.

Yeah. To be honest, if Willie doesn't restructure his cap hit by at least half, the Pats would have no choice but to cut him.

The good news is that he is still playing at a high level, so the Pats can probably consider something like a two year extension or even more if they are willing to risk eating some bonus down the line.

 

[PATSNUTme]

Keep in mind that restructuring does not mean he'll get less money. It just means that it will be done differently.

 

[mgteich]

What are you trying to say? As of now, Willie is scheduled to receive $7M over the next four years, all in 2006. I suppose if the money were spread out, one could argue that he is getting the same money.

Willie could insist on $7M this year. The team might even agree to this over a four year contract with $1M salaries this year and next, with $4M salaries in 2008 and 2009. They would need to believe that Willie intends to play this year and next. His cap would be a very acceptable $2.5M for 2006 and 2007. Willie would probably want to add a 2008 roster bonus to my suggestion.

Keep in mind that restructuring does not mean he'll get less money. It just means that it will be done differently.

 

[groundgame]

Don't think the Jets and Browns won't be watching the Willie McG situation very closely.

 

[drpatriot]

BB is not going to cut Willie! Where do people get this stuff? I agree that he will most likely be asked to restructure.

Though I am sure BB, and almost every Patriots fan, would love to keep Willie, there is no guarantee that he will agree to restructure his contract. With the cap hit we would take to keep him next year, we would cut him. Remember that we cut Troy Brown, and he had done a lot for us. We also cut Ty Law, who we could have used this year but cost us too much. I guess on the "verge" of being cut is a little pessimistic but it is a very real possibility that we should consider.

also, dont expect any rookie LB to step in and start for us.

That is precisely what I expect to happen if McGinest retire unless we somehow pick up Julian Peterson. Shawne Merriman, Demarcus Ware, Lofa Tatupu and Odell Thurman, among others, played excellently at linebacker as rookies this year. Jonathan Vilma, D.J. Williams and Terrell Suggs have also done so in recent years. If McGinest leaves, we have two options in the draft if we don't get a free agent (or decide to stick with Monty, for some reason):

1. Move Vrabel to outside and draft an ILB.
2. Keep Vrabel inside and draft an OLB.

I like the second option better. I expect players like Mathias Kiwanuka, Tamba Hali and Manny Lawson to be able to play in our system as an OLB and do so well. I like the chances of at least one of these players will end up falling to us.

 

[PATSNUTme]

What are you trying to say? As of now, Willie is scheduled to receive $7M over the next four years, all in 2006. I suppose if the money were spread out, one could argue that he is getting the same money.

Willie could insist on $7M this year. The team might even agree to this over a four year contract with $1M salaries this year and next, with $4M salaries in 2008 and 2009. They would need to believe that Willie intends to play this year and next. His cap would be a very acceptable $2.5M for 2006 and 2007. Willie would probably want to add a 2008 roster bonus to my suggestion.

What i was trying to say is that there's a difference betwwen the "cap' number and the actual money the player recieves in any given year. They could restucture so he would recieve the money but it would be spread over more years.

They may even want to carry a couple of years of 'dead' money if it gives them cap relief this year.

Now, I'm confusing myself.