If Vince Wilfork is a gambler, he needs to use leverage now

The successful nose tackle must be an expert in leverage. It is why two of the greatest, Curly Culp and Fred Smerlas, were both great collegiate wrestlers, a sport in which command of leverage is paramount.

Another such expert is Vince Wilfork [stats], the unhappy Patriots [team stats]’ nose tackle who Sunday repeatedly talked of the trading of his friend as a reminder that football is “a business.” If Wilfork really believes that, now is his time to prove he understands the football business and the business of leverage.

With the departure of Seymour, the Patriots have taken $3.685 million off their cap and removed one of the potential big-ticket items facing them at the end of the season. This has led many to assume Wilfork will now be taken care of before his contract runs out at the end of the season, but there are no assurances of that.

In life and in the NFL there are no assurances except for one - it will end badly for nearly everyone. Wilfork understands this more and more as Seymour sits at home today trying to sort out if he will uproot his family from their sparkling new mini-mansion in North Attleborough and show up in Oakland. It is a decision in which he has little leverage because if he refuses his contract could be tolled and he would A) not be paid for the season and B) not become a free agent at the end of this year.

Wilfork is at the other end of the leverage spectrum. If he takes a leap of faith (in himself) and tells his representatives that if they don’t have a contract extension by Wednesday he is going to stay home he will have made clear that he really does understand the business of pro football at least as well as Deion Branch did.

Six years ago, the Patriots had all the leverage when they drafted him on the first round and they used it. Wilfork had no option but to sign what was put in front of him, a six-year deal that made him give up two years of potential free agency for what would soon become short money. He has clearly outplayed that contract yet the Patriots have refused to rewrite it, making him one of only two first-round picks that year still playing on their rookie deals.

The other is Ben Watson [stats].

His employer is the New England Patriots [team stats].

Do we understand leverage now?

Those six-year deals were eventually ruled so one-sided they have been made illegal. Now rookies can sign for no more than four years, leaving them with a reasonable chance to maximize their career earnings in a league where the average career remains less than four years.

Wilfork knows that just as he knows the way Seymour got his was by going home and refusing to play until he got paid. He should now do the same, telling his bosses he cannot in good conscience risk a major injury Monday night with no protection for his future.

Imagine what Wilfork might look like if he suffered the kind of knee injury Tom Brady [stats] did in last year’s season opener. Unable to exercise for six months his weight, a struggle in the best of times, would very likely balloon. Then what?

This is not Wilfork’s way of doing business. It’s the Patriots’. Despite his clear unhappiness he has not missed a single mandatory workout. He has spoken of “the fellas,” referring to his teammates and his loyalty to them. These are admirable traits but the fact is, if it had been him who was shipped out, “the fellas” would have said, “it’s a business,” and been done with it.

If he were to suffer a career-ending injury, few of them would be running bake sales to help him. The Patriots? They would move on. After all, it’s just business.

Business deals are about leverage, who has it and who has the stomach to use it. The team will never be without it. The player will only occasionally have it. Today is one of those days for Wilfork.

Vince Wilfork is right when he says it’s just business. If he thinks otherwise, he should go ask Seymour if anyone asked how a trade might affect his wife and kids, who are days away from starting a new school year. Ask him if anyone from his “team” asked how it might affect that new home, which just became a giant white elephant.

It’s a business all right and business is about leverage. Guys like Vince Wilfork [stats] seldom have it. Today he does and the Patriots [team stats] are betting he won’t have the gumption to use it.



(bostonherald.com)