Do yourself a favor.
Take the $7.003 million out of this Vince Wilfork situation.
You’ll save yourself a lot of trouble and, judging by the comments from both the Patriots and Wilfork’s camp, if that’s the final figure for No. 75, neither side will have reached its goal.
So spare everyone the “He’s got 7.003 million reasons not to complain.’’ Because that number - the dollar amount affixed to the franchise designation placed upon Wilfork yesterday - is one of system failure on both ends.
For Wilfork, because it’s not close to the money that he wants. And for the Patriots, because it represents gripping desperately at their most important defensive player for one more year, rather than making him a cornerstone of their future.
The idea here is to reach a long-term accord. Period. If it’s not, there are some mistruths being floated in this case.
Shortly after news broke that the Patriots had filed paperwork to place the non-exclusive franchise tag on Wilfork, the family, through his wife Bianca’s Twitter account, released the following statement: “After six years of dedicated service, I do un derstand this is a business. With that being said, it is my hope that the tag is applied for its true purpose, for the purpose of allotting more time for us to continue our talks and be able to reach a long-term agreement. Only time will tell what the final result will be.’’
The Patriots responded with a quote, tucked in their announcement of the move and with no attribution, expressing similar intentions.
“A long-term agreement with Vince Wilfork has been the team’s top contractual priority for some time,’’ it read. “Unfortunately, despite numerous conversations and proposals, the goal has not yet been realized.
“Vince is a tremendous player for our team and remains a significant part of our future plans. It is because of Vince’s importance to this organization that we have assigned the franchise designation as we continue to work toward a long-term agreement. We are hopeful that Vince will remain a Patriot for many years to come.’’
For a team that issues news releases that often have all the information that a couple of mouse clicks could get you, that statement is significant.
Take the last two occasions that New England used the tag.
The announcement of Asante Samuel’s tagging in 2007 had a one-line reference to a long-term deal, with Bill Belichick quoted: “We hope Asante remains a Patriot for many seasons to come.’’ Last year, when Matt Cassel was tagged, a Belichick quote in the news release read: “We look forward to working with Matt again in 2009.’’
If those were pecks on the cheek, the comments on the Wilfork release were long, passionate kisses.
READER COMMENTS »
View reader comments » Comment on this story »