Mankins is taking guarded approach on contract

December 31, 2009|Adam Kilgore, Globe Staff

FOXBOROUGH - In the five years since the Patriots drafted him in the first round, guard Logan Mankins has become one of the NFL’s elite offensive linemen, a status affirmed Tuesday when he was named to the Pro Bowl for the second time in three years. Mankins, who takes pride in smashing defenders while the whistle echoes, grew up in a California town of less than 1,000 people. He never has missed an NFL game and is the kind of player who rarely speaks but makes an impact when he does.

Mankins said something yesterday that the Patriots will notice. He is in the final year of his first contract, and before yesterday he had not addressed that situation. But when asked about it, Mankins said his unresolved contract status, at times, wears on him.

“You think about it,’’ he said. “You see other guys signing extensions, and you wish you were one of those guys with an extension. You’ll have to ask the powers that be around here if I’m going to get one or not. Because I don’t know.’’

The league’s labor situation suggests Mankins will have to keep waiting. As it stands, the NFL will operate without a salary cap for 2010.

In a typical capped season, players with at least four years of service can become unrestricted free agents. Without a salary cap in place, though, players need six years.

Mankins, therefore, will be a restricted free agent, which gives the Patriots two options outside of simply renegotiating. They can either give him their franchise tag or tender him an offer at the highest RFA threshold. It seems likely the Patriots will use their franchise tag on Vince Wilfork, who will be an unrestricted free agent. So the Patriots probably will wait and tender Mankins.

Once the Patriots tender Mankins, any team that signs him to an offer sheet would have to surrender first- and third-round picks to the Patriots if they choose not to match. That threshold last year was $2.562 million, which is exceedingly affordable for a player of Mankins’s caliber.

Frank Bauer, Mankins’s agent, is confident the matter will be resolved. He said the delay between the Patriots and Mankins is symptomatic of the league.

“We’re all waiting to see what the new CBA is going to be,’’ Bauer said. “We talked with them a while back. We’re all in the same situation.’’

Bauer called Patriots owner Robert Kraft a “very, very, very smart’’ businessman who understands the current climate. He also believes the Patriots properly value Mankins, who has become one of the league’s best guards.

“They will renegotiate with Logan Mankins,’’ Bauer said. “They’re not going to let Logan Mankins get out of that place.