Re-signing Vince Wilfork should be Patriots' priority

As an unsettling offseason gets under way, the Patriots face several major decisions, one involving nose tackle Vince Wilfork, who wants to stay but on his terms.

The “dynasty” ended five years ago. New England is in decline.

Given how the Jets are developing under rookie Mark Sanchez, the Patriots won’t even be the AFC East favorite next year.

As the Patriots head into this uncertain new era, their handling of Wilfork will say a lot about an organization whose methods, once the NFL model, are no longer working.

The Patriots’ coldly efficient approach was attractive and even admired when a core of players existed to bind the team from within.

Their personalities enticed others to want to play in New England, even as the organization took a pointedly impersonal approach.

That management style showed its flaws as early as 2006, when it caused Adam Vinatieri to walk away.

Today, there are problems on both sides of the ball. On defense, the Tedy Bruschis and Richard Seymours have been replaced by guys who either can’t execute the game plan, or don’t provide the intangibles that made this team special.

Wilfork offers both. He says he wants to be back, but only with a long-term deal.

The Patriots could tag him as a franchise player, and Wilfork would have to honor it, but he would consider that professional imprisonment.

Given his freedom, Wilfork could sign elsewhere. The logical business decision would be to apply the franchise tag and lock him in for a year.

That would settle it, as long as it doesn’t matter that one of your best players is miserable.

It’s how almost any other team would handle it. The Patriots must decide if they want to become just like any other team, which is how they looked this year.

I hope they negotiate with Wilfork. They should not be expected to cripple their salary cap, just strive for a fair deal.
That comes with risk, since it gives no guarantee they’ll sign him. But no system, even theirs, works without good players.

Wilfork, 28, could be part of a better, revamped defense for several years. That won’t happen if he’s franchised, all but assuring he’ll want out after 2010.

In cold business terms, Wilfork is just a piece of franchisable football property. Part of good business, though, is a workforce with some chemistry and some backbone.

The Patriots have moved away from that. With Wilfork, they have a chance to move back to it.

He’s a true Patriot, and not many of those are left.

Negotiating with him would not show fiscal weakness. It would be good business.

Their ruthlessly efficient approach held up for a while, but it’s not working anymore.

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(masslive.com)