Felger & Mazz: The Vince Wilfork Dilemma
The Patriots enter the offseason with at least one tricky situation. And it's a big one.
Vince Wilfork is due to cost $11.5 million against the salary cap in 2014. The 32-year-old is coming off a serious Achilles injury, and given his age, size and the De-emphasis of the importance of his position in the NFL, the Patriots likely can't afford to dedicate those kinds of resources to him.
So what do they do?
Marc Bertrand, Adam Jones and Jermaine Wiggins discussed that topic on Tuesday.
Jones suggested the two sides agree to restructure, giving Wilfork something like $5.5 million in each of the next two seasons.
"If he doesn't [take that], then he's cut," Jones said. "If Wilfork doesn't want to play ball with you, then you cut him. And that's fine. I think he's worth half his salary."
Bertrand didn't feel the same way.
"I disagree, given the age, given the injury, given the fact that he didn't look good on the field before the injury, which I know a lot of people started talking about early in the season before he got hurt," Bertrand said.
Jones warned that losing Wilfork could lead to another season of the Patriots relying on Armond Amstead, Tommy Kelly, Joe Vellano and Co.
Wiggins said that wouldn't necessarily be the case.
"You can find those guys out there," Wiggins said. "Are they Vince? Maybe not, but when you look at Vince and the type of role that he plays for this team here, it's not maybe the same role that Ndamukong Suh or Haloti Ngata plays, because the defense is different. To me, you get more value from guys that can get to the passer. ... If you're going to keep Wilfork, you've got to really think about reducing his pay."
Listen below for the full discussion:
The Vince Wilfork Dilemma
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