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There was never a guarantee that Wilfork would be back. In any case, we has been injured twice since the beginning of the last preseason.
NEW MONEY TO KEEP, AS OF NOW
Wilfork $8M
Kelly $2M
Sopoaga $2M
The question is how much new money each is worth to the patriots. If the answer is less than they will accept, then they will be cut. The only "hard" question is how long we wait to see if each player is healthy and how ready they are.
I expect Sopoaga to be gone early.
Kelly can be kept around through camp to see if he is worth $2M. He certainly should be if he is can recover.
I expect that Wilfork might be offered an $7M bonus plus a $1M 2014 salary (the same money as in the current contract). The question is the total compensation and whether Wilfork will take the deal.
NEW MONEY TO KEEP, AS OF NOW
Wilfork $8M
Kelly $2M
Sopoaga $2M
The question is how much new money each is worth to the patriots. If the answer is less than they will accept, then they will be cut. The only "hard" question is how long we wait to see if each player is healthy and how ready they are.
I expect Sopoaga to be gone early.
Kelly can be kept around through camp to see if he is worth $2M. He certainly should be if he is can recover.
I expect that Wilfork might be offered an $7M bonus plus a $1M 2014 salary (the same money as in the current contract). The question is the total compensation and whether Wilfork will take the deal.
Assuming that Wilfork is back (which is no guarantee, IMO), I think a rotation of Wilfork, Jones, Siliga, Kelly, and Armstead/Vellano is pretty good. I can also understand keeping a sixth, although between Chandler Jones' ability to move inside on third down and the possibility of running more 3-4 next year, my guess would be that the extra roster spot is used elsewhere.
I understand the appeal of cutting Kelly for a quick $2M in cash, but he was really good when he was healthy, and the cost of getting anything close to his healthy production would presumably be more than $2M. If they're serious about going that route, I'd think the team would be better off cutting Wilfork to save $8M than cutting Kelly to save a quarter as much. Wilfork's production is worth that $8M when healthy, but he wasn't healthy this year even before the achilles went out.
It's a bummer that Sopoaga is going to cost $1M against the cap after contributing nothing, especially if Kelly or Wilfork ends up being cut as a cap move.