Willie goes down with Class.

[shirtsleeve]

Hold on to your Willie Mac jerseys because he will retire as a Pat AND enter the HOF as a Pat. Another non-Pat I'll be rooting for.

I've always said that the team will sign a bunch of 1 day contracts with guys like Willie and Ty after they are ready to retire. They will "get released" by their last team, sign a one day deal with the Pats for the opening game, and retire Pats!
Business is business, but Kraft has class and will do this for them. I'm sure they already know that.

 

[cdillon28]

Jeez, sarge, you know better than this.

- He was allowed to retire in NE, he chose to go elsewhere for more money.
- They did call him, Belichick called him the day they released him.
- They did talk to his agent about an offer, they typically wouldn't talk to the player.

It's all about money and McGinest went for it. Not saying I blame him but don't blame the Patriots. Just because they have cap money doesn't mean they should overspent. They have bigger fish to fry like Seymour, Branch, Koppen, et al, coming up.

According to Willie the only phone call he received from the Pats was from Mr Kraft saying congrats on signing with the Browns. he said he had NO CONTACT from anyone there. IMO that's cold!

- why would Willie retire now when he still has 2 good years left in him. The man still wants to play. So how selfish of you to say well Willie since you can't play for us retire and play for no one.

-About this bigger fish to fry crap. If they are using this 20 million for Branch and Seymour then get the freakin deals done now! Why wait until next year you've got the money show me, a die hard, loyal Pats fan, who was one of a couple thousand that use to travel to Shafffer, Sullivan, Foxboro Stadium, when the team was losing and you could not watch the game on local TV. Show me that the organization is trying to continue the winning ways. And not beginning to act like Jeremy Jacobs!

 

[fgssand]

According to Willie the only phone call he received from the Pats was from Mr Kraft saying congrats on signing with the Browns. he said he had NO CONTACT from anyone there. IMO that's cold!

- why would Willie retire now when he still has 2 good years left in him. The man still wants to play. So how selfish of you to say well Willie since you can't play for us retire and play for no one.

-About this bigger fish to fry crap. If they are using this 20 million for Branch and Seymour then get the freakin deals done now! Why wait until next year you've got the money show me, a die hard, loyal Pats fan, who was one of a couple thousand that use to travel to Shafffer, Sullivan, Foxboro Stadium, when the team was losing and you could not watch the game on local TV. Show me that the organization is trying to continue the winning ways. And not beginning to act like Jeremy Jacobs!

Get your facts straight - BB called Wilie the day we cut him and they had a discussion. The Patriots left messages with Willie and those calls were not returned. Then, yes, Kraft called him yesterday.
I do not blame Willie for taking the money and leaving. I also feel the Patriots were right in not bringing him back anywhere near those numbers.

For you to equate Kraft with Jacobs is the most rediculous statement I have ever read, for an old guy, you are clueless.

By the way, I have seen the Patriots in person and have had season tickets continually since Fenway park days. I thank Bob Kraft for keeping this franchise in Foxboro. I thank BB & SP for bringing us three Superbowl victories. I will bet you my season tickets that SP/BB will be winning more Superbowls before they leave. I am very happy that they do not act on emotion.

 

[VrabelMayeWin]

According to Willie the only phone call he received from the Pats was from Mr Kraft saying congrats on signing with the Browns. he said he had NO CONTACT from anyone there. IMO that's cold!

Well I wouldn't expect him to have contact during negotiations, I would expect that contact to be with his agent.

This is what Felger has to say :

"In the meantime, fans should disabuse themselves of the notion that the Pats didn’t show McGinest enough love in the days after his release last Wednesday night. There were plenty of calls made from the football department to McGinest early this week"

If you want to say "Felger's full of it", fine. But he has no reason to have an agenda whereas McGinest does - to deflect the reason he left being just about money.

 

[onegameatatime]

I question these "I never heard from them" comments.

I suspect the teams say "if you think you can get a lot more, check it out, but we are in the ____ range." The player gets a 2x offer and there is no need to talk with the first team.

I have no problem with any player taking bigger bucks elsewhere in a free agent year -- not Woody, Givens, McGinest, or whoever. At least in football (unlike baseball) there is very little of the "they did not show me respect" and "it's not about the money" comments that are so annoying.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Jeez, sarge, you know better than this.

- He was allowed to retire in NE, he chose to go elsewhere for more money.
- They did call him, Belichick called him the day they released him.
- They did talk to his agent about an offer, they typically wouldn't talk to the player.

It's all about money and McGinest went for it. Not saying I blame him but don't blame the Patriots. Just because they have cap money doesn't mean they should overspent. They have bigger fish to fry like Seymour, Branch, Koppen, et al, coming up.

Exactly. By keeping things in house they often hurt themselves in the public perception war - and I do think they might want to adjust that approach just a tad because other players (ours and those we might persue) are part of that public. According to Holley BB also talked to Willie directly before he left for Cleveland. This was just about money. Felger said all along he believed the Pats felt Willie was a $2M+ player for 2006. If you look at what Colvin ($3.85M) and Vrabel ($2M) and Bruschi ($1.85M) are making this year, that's about right. Unless you want to upset that LB slotting and have them believing they are underpaid or under valued. Willie will take home $8M this year and $10 over 2 years from a team who believe they need both his remaining skills and his club house cache to facilitate a rebuild.

Willie said all along money didn't matter to him because he's made plenty. He said it was about winning. But few players who say that really mean it when the rubber meets the road. If the Redskins had made Willie this offer it would be clearer he chose the money. Cleveland allows him to spin it that he left for a chance to help build something with/for RAC. That's fine, just don't lets kid ourselves. He left because somebody else wanted him enough to substantially overpay for a 34 year old OLB - and it just so happened they could also provide the feel good cover of needing his reputation and veteran leadership inside and outside their locker room.

And if you say your not upset and you're not going to take any shots, you really should not need to slide a few veiled ones between the lines in your signing press conference. This team was very good to Willie throughout his 12 year career, and this coach was especially good for Willie during the last 6 years of it. I know he's acknowledged it, and he should leave it at that.

 

[marty]

Exactly. By keeping things in house they often hurt themselves in the public perception war - and I do think they might want to adjust that approach just a tad because other players (ours and those we might persue) are part of that public. According to Holley BB also talked to Willie directly before he left for Cleveland. This was just about money. Felger said all along he believed the Pats felt Willie was a $2M+ player for 2006. If you look at what Colvin ($3.85M) and Vrabel ($2M) and Bruschi ($1.85M) are making this year, that's about right. Unless you want to upset that LB slotting and have them believing they are underpaid or under valued. Willie will take home $8M this year and $10 over 2 years from a team who believe they need both his remaining skills and his club house cache to facilitate a rebuild.

Willie said all along money didn't matter to him because he's made plenty. He said it was about winning. But few players who say that really mean it when the rubber meets the road. If the Redskins had made Willie this offer it would be clearer he chose the money. Cleveland allows him to spin it that he left for a chance to help build something with/for RAC. That's fine, just don't lets kid ourselves. He left because somebody else wanted him enough to substantially overpay for a 34 year old OLB - and it just so happened they could also provide the feel good cover of needing his reputation and veteran leadership inside and outside their locker room.

And if you say your not upset and you're not going to take any shots, you really should not need to slide a few veiled ones between the lines in your signing press conference. This team was very good to Willie throughout his 12 year career, and this coach was especially good for Willie during the last 6 years of it. I know he's acknowledged it, and he should leave it at that.

Bingo! We have Bingo! I also think this is the way it went down.

 

[cdillon28]

Get your facts straight - BB called Wilie the day we cut him and they had a discussion. The Patriots left messages with Willie and those calls were not returned. Then, yes, Kraft called him yesterday.
I do not blame Willie for taking the money and leaving. I also feel the Patriots were right in not bringing him back anywhere near those numbers.

For you to equate Kraft with Jacobs is the most rediculous statement I have ever read, for an old guy, you are clueless.

By the way, I have seen the Patriots in person and have had season tickets continually since Fenway park days. I thank Bob Kraft for keeping this franchise in Foxboro. I thank BB & SP for bringing us three Superbowl victories. I will bet you my season tickets that SP/BB will be winning more Superbowls before they leave. I am very happy that they do not act on emotion.

I have my facts straight. They came straight from Willie's mouth. When he says he's had NO contact I take him at his word.

-Maybe equating Kraft w/jacobs was a bit off base. I was wrong (for now) in saying that. I ask you though to not question my knowledge or loyalty to this team. I was a season ticket holder for many years. I remember when I could not get to a game, and I was not able to give my tickets away. I failed to renew my tickets once I felt that the price to have 4 tickets got to be outrageous. I still attend several games (mostly late in the season), because I coach a youth football team which my son plays on and my daughter's a cheerleader for the organization ( My VCR runs OT during the first 7 weeks).
I love this team. Just not too happy with what has transpired during this week.

In Bill I trust sometime