To pay, or not to pay? That is the question right now – at least in New England.
Whether or not Terry Glenn is worth the new deal he and his agent, James Gould, appear to be seeking seems to be the point many people in New England are pondering at this moment. There’s no question that the fifth year receiver out of Ohio State has the talent to be one of the best in the league, the question seems to be can he play in 16 games, and can he handle being the go-to guy?
Over the last three seasons we haven’t seen it, at least not yet anyway.
But things seem to be different. Glenn’s whole outlook appears to have changed now that Pete Carroll is gone and Bill Belichick is the head coach. Glenn has been participating in the team’s offseason workout program, and up to this point anyway has been playing by the rules. He’s even had the fine brought against him at the end of last season by Carroll dropped, as Belichick has attempted to wipe the slate clean and give Glenn a fresh start.
He was to be the No. 1 receiver heading into the season, and was expected to be the guy to carry the team now that Shawn Jefferson has headed down to Atlanta to play for the Falcons. Losing Jefferson left the team with a No. 2 receiver spot that will most likely be competed for by Vincent Brisby, Troy Brown, and Tony Simmons, but Glenn is now expected to be the focal point of the offense. With the loss of Jefferson, Gould may have seen this as a great opportunity to solidify Glenn’s future.
One fairly big point here is the fact that Glenn still has two years remaining in his contract, and Belichick may feel that it’s too early to pay out a large contract considering Glenn’s history, and that he won’t offer him a new deal until after this season. Then the question would be whether or not Terry would hold out before the season. One would have to believe that he wouldn’t, but in this day and age in the NFL, who knows.
Glenn reportedly said that he was looking forward to carrying the burden of being the team’s go-to guy, but is simply looking to be paid as such. It’s true that Troy Brown is currently the team’s highest paid receiver, but Brown does have merit to the new deal he was given. He has been one of the more clutch players since he joined the team, and has been a top kickoff and punt return man, and missed very few games over the last four seasons. While the deal he was given may have been a bit much, Brown has definitely been an iron-man and was considered to be one of the hardest working guys on the team. His hard work paid off.
While no details were really given regarding the type of deal Gould is seeking, it may actually be in the club’s best interest for them to give Glenn a new deal. If they can offer him a multi-year deal and make it for a fairly reasonable sum, New England would probably win especially if Glenn goes out and puts up All-Pro numbers over the next five or six seasons. If they don’t offer him a new deal and he plays out this season, in the event he has an outstanding season the price he would be seeking would most likely skyrocket. Which leads us back to our original question.
To pay or not to pay?
This will be the question the Patriots will have to answer.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
