No Hard Feelings From Vince Wilfork

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It was on Sunday Night football last season when the New England Patriots improved to 4-0 with a huge win over the defending NFC South Champions, the Atlanta Falcons. The only problem was that their guy in the middle of the defensive line and defensive captain, Vince Wilfork, tore his Achilles. Wilfork missed the rest of the 2013 NFL Season with one of the worst possible injuries that a 6-foot-2, 325-pounder could have. That weight is what he is listed as; his real weight, to our dismay, is unknown.

Outside the Pats signal caller Jerod Mayo, Wilfork was the best player on the Patriots below-average defense in 2013. Though Vince didn’t record a sack in the games that he played last season, he still anchored the defense and plugged up the middle of the field. In the first four games of 2013, the Patriots allowed an average of 105 rushing yards per game, good for 12th in the NFL. On the contrary, when Wilfork was not in the lineup, they allowed over 154 rushing yards per game, the most in the NFL.

Wilfork’s absence was felt by Patriot fans toward the end of 2013, but with Wilfork entering the final year of his current contract, there was an amount of uncertainty surrounding his future with the team. The Patriots have always been cautious about giving players big contracts towards the end of their careers (see guys like Randy Moss and Wes Welker).

After speaking with his agent and Patriot representatives in the offseason, Wilfork seemed to think that the new contract he wanted was not going to happen. Subsequently, he demanded to be traded or released by the team he had spent the previous 10 seasons with. At that point, it seemed that the two sides were extremely far apart and no new contract was imminent.

Wilfork probably felt like he had a considerable amount of leverage considering how the entire defense performed without him. Having said that, New England still made it to the AFC Championship game and are notorious for not paying older guys on their roster. It seemed like a deal was not going to get done and Wilfork even went as far as completely clean out his locker at Gillette Stadium.

Eventually, owner Robert Kraft spoke out in Wilfork’s defense and the two sides agreed on a restructured deal. The contract is a three-year deal worth $22.5 million with an option after the first year.

Reporters talked to Wilfork for the first time during offseason minicamps about his contract issue on whether he actually entertained playing for another team in 2014:

"That's a dead issue. I'm here for a reason. If I didn't believe the things that were brought to me, I wouldn't have signed it. I'm not upset. I'm not holding any type of grudge. Business is business and everybody handles business in different types of ways.

Does he sound a little bitter? Maybe the five-time Pro Bowler still has some hard feelings about why it took so long to get paid. Regardless, the contract distraction is over now, so the only thing Wilfork needs to worry about is getting his Achilles and the rest of his 300-plus pound body ready for the season opener against the Miami Dolphins.


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(football.com)
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