The Super Bowl is over and the Patriots have returned the Lombardi trophy back to Foxborough for the fourth time in the past fourteen years.With one their best looking defense since way back in 04' they were able to pull of the improbable victory. But we know the past, it's the future that you want to know. On the verge of the 2015 season starting next week people have some questions. Like what's going to happen to Darrelle Revis? There's a lot of talk that now the Buffalo Bills are going to try to make a run at him. Before that story the New York Jet's were going to try to get him back in green. Calm down though. The Patriots didn't add a second year option to his contract to let him walk away that easily. He's going to being staying in the red, white, blue and silver next season. If it comes down to having to pay the man the $25 million dollars necessary to do so then so be it. They've been in talks with him basically since they signed him last march. They're going to get a deal done with him before they let him test Free Agency. Now what about Devin McCourty you ask? Is he going to be tagged? First off he's vocally come out and said that he's willing to take that tag and has agreed that it's player friendly money now. But don't be surprised if the Pats don't use the franchise tag on him. The tag for safeties this year is a whopping 9.6 Million. If they could get him to agree to a long term deal they could probably get him around $6-7 Million. The man is one of the top safeties in the league and worth that money. It's safe to say though that he's not going anywhere this off season. The next big question is Shane Vareen. The guy had a pretty stellar season with us and rumors are that he's demanding $5 Million a year. He's also come out to bat these rumors down stating that he's never once said that. Continuing on his situation. We currently have Vareen and Ridley hitting free agency. Ridley is kind of the forgotten guy after his early injury in the season. I'll get to him in a moment though. To me Vareen is our Kevin Faulk of the early to mid 2000's. The guy is a great pass catching back. He runs his wheel routes perfectly setting up 20-30 yard plays almost two times a game. He makes players miss on tackles and almost rarely drops the ball. However he's not your traditional work horse back. He'll stay in New England as our 3rd down back for just a little over what he was previously making. Back on to Stevan Ridley. Do we keep him? I myself am unsure about this one. We have Gray, White, Bolden and Blount already in our backfield. If we do end up signing Ridley it's for a place holding spot in case they don't get someone better in the off season. The draft has a few good RB's looking to go into the second round. With the Pats holding the number 32 overall, they could grab one before. More than likely they'll trade out to provide a few more late round picks. So yes, I think they take Ridley for dirt cheap and Vareen for a little more. Maybe give White his walking papers. Next is Stephen Gostkowski. This is pretty open and shut here. Just look at the Adam Vinatieri situation back in '05. If Gostkowski thinks he's worth more than that Patriots think he's worth then they'll let him walk. That simple. Akeem Ayers, he was a pretty solid back last year filling in for Mayo. They won't pay him a lot of money when they still have Mayo on the roster. He get's the boot. Mayo has been put into a bad situation. He count's as $10 Million towards the cap. That's a lot of money. He hasn't played a full season in over two years now. I think if he doesn't renegotiate his contract he'll get the boot after June-1 (Welcome back Ayers) Moving on to another huge cap number, Vince Wilfork. His contract basically tells us he'll be cut. After June 1st only $433,000 would be dead money the savings you ask? $8.5 Million! If they were to cut both Vince and Mayo they'd be saving over $15 million. Vince didn't really prove that he was his old self this year, and Jerod hasn't played 16 games in over two seasons. If both of them don't negotiate then expect them to be playing somewhere else. Last big money player we have is Nate Solder. Now I don't think they cut him. He is however entering his last year on his contract and is expected to make $7.5 million. Now if any contract said "You're not safe" It's his. He would generate a whole $0 in dead money no matter when they cut him. That wasn't a mistake, that was a zero. He get's a contract extension here and cut's his cap number down dramatically. I'm going to post some numbers for a player now. He played 16 games during the regular season. That's all of them, great start. He posted 27 receptions. That took a dark turn, 200 receiving yards and recorded 1 Touchdown. Now you're asking who is this player. Surely he can't be that big of a deal. Wrong, this was Danny Amendola. He's set to make $5.7 Million this year. Some people are saying the his post season workload saved his job. I don't think so. They're plane silly if they pay this man almost $6 million dollars next year. Cut him or restructure. There's a lot of talent out there this free agency, they'll find someone worth that money. Notable Dates: Teams must designate franchise tags for players tomorrow March 2nd, before 4 PM. On March 7th teams are allowed to start talking to players agents to negotiate contracts but can not execute a contract until 4 PM on March 10th at which point free agency starts. Teams must be under salary cap by that time. I'd like to thank over the cap for all the salary cap information.
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AuthorDaniel Naylor Archives
June 2015
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