Kraft: Wilfork and Pats ‘Close’
Posted Under: 2010, General / Analysis, Offseason, Reports, Rumors
Yesterday, Patriots owner Robert Kraft expressed his belief that the Patriots and recently franchised nose tackle Vince Wilfork were “close” on a deal.
“Vince was a priority. And we worked very hard and I think both sides have worked hard and I think we’re close and I hope we close something but in the end, he was our priority, the first priority… We have a number of other deals we’ve got to do. We’re going about building our team and I hope in this process we get to close this out. I know he’s a very important part of our team and I think we made an offer that can hopefully get it done.
Personally, I think an offer will get done sooner than latter, especially with today’s news that Steelers’ nose tackle Casey Hampton received a contract offer for 3 years and $21 million, with $11 million in guarantees. I wouldn’t be shocked to see an announcement early next week. Ultimately, I think the deal will land at five years, between $42 and $48 million, with around $25-$30 million in guarantees and bonuses.
In addition to commenting on the Wilfork situation, Robert Kraft also commented on the comments that Randy Moss made earlier this week about the Patriots, when Moss stated that the Patriots “don’t pay” and that he expected 2010 to be his last year with the team.
In any of the family businesses we’re in, we don’t go out and just try to spend money and always be the highest spender. We want to win. If you look collectively at an aggregate basis, we spend to be competitive but also anyone in your readership that has run a business knows that just spending wildly doesn’t mean you’re doing the right thing. You want to spend wisely and you want to spend with the right people… I didn’t interpret what he said as anti-Patriot, he’s a smart business man too. He’s getting himself positioned.
So there you have it. Stay tuned for a lot more on the combine, as here at PatriotsBlog.net, we’ll have constant updates on who the Patriots are looking at, what prospects we like, and we’ll wrap it up with a new mock draft immediately following the event early next week.
