New England Patriots: Vince Wilfork easiest cut?

The New England Patriots decision to cut ties with star defensive tackle Vince Wilfork was announced today by the star DT on Twitter, and while there’s a chance Wilfork can come back at a reduced price (especially since he might not be a hot commodity on the open market since he’s 33), it’s a tough moment for most Patriots fans. Wilfork is a franchise icon and team legend who has been an integral part of two Super Bowl teams.

That said, Wilfork needed to become another big-name, veteran cut in an offense that has been unkind to older players. The Patriots were way over the cap and desperately needed to make a big move to get out of the red. Per Over The Cap, the Patriots are still in the negatives, but they are much better off now that they saved $8.06 million against the cap by cutting ties with a player who was upset with taking a paycut last year.

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Wilfork is still a very effective run defender and can help free up others in pass defense, but he clearly wasn’t worth that sort of a cap hit. With Darrelle Revis and Devin McCourty as priorities (Revis is responsible for their cap woes, while McCourty is an impending free agent), the Patriots have to be even tougher and more stingy with their money than usual.

For as good as Wilfork still is, he simply wasn’t worth an $8.9 million cap hit, and spending that amount of money on him against the cap wasn’t the best allocation of resources. Although Dominique Easley is a much different player, he is an extremely promising 2014 first-round pick who could be a star up the middle, particularly on passing downs. The Patriots need pass rushing more than run defense anyway, since they have excellent linebackers in run D to go with another run-stuffing DT in Sealver Siliga.

Should the Patriots want to add more beef up the middle, then there are plenty of options they can scoop up in this year’s draft in either the first or second round. It’s highly unlikely they’ll take a DT in the first round in back-to-back drafts, especially since they should be high on their ability to get solid play out of both Easley and Siliga in 2015; the name of the game will be adding quality depth behind those guys.

Of course, there’s always a chance Wilfork returns to New England, because, if his statement is any confirmation of this, he loves the organization and still clearly fits in. I’m sure the Patriots understand how good he still is, as he recorded 47 tackles and was the team’s best run defender in 2014. This release was completely based on Wilfork’s cap number and had nothing to do with his performance on the field.

How many 33-year-old, run-stuffing DTs should have a cap hit approaching $9 million? The Patriots probably asked themselves that question and realized that while Wilfork is still one of the better players at the position and a key part of this team, they would be better off slashing him, saving a huge amount of money, and using it on an even more important player like McCourty, whose situation is incredibly complicated with Revis’s contract talks unknown.

Saving over $8 million is a step in the right direction for the cash-strapped Patriots, but they need to do a lot more cap-shaving if they want to get out of the hole and have a shot at keeping both McCourty and Revis. It’s clear that they need those two elite DBs to compete.

Sadly, the New England Patriots will have to cut ties with more talented players in order to clear out enough money, but what should soften the blow of cutting good players is this simple statement, “Revis and McCourty are more important to winning another Super Bowl than Wilfork, Danny Amendola, and Kyle Arrington.”

Amendola and Arrington are two players thrown around as players who could become cap casualties despite their ability, since the Patriots will have to make tough cuts in order to hold onto two of their most important players. They have to prioritize the cream of the crop.

There’s no doubt that Amendola is an excellent router-runner and an effective receiver when healthy, but he’s too injury-prone to even be a No. 3 receiver in the Patriots offense. He’ll have no trouble finding work elsewhere if the Patriots cut him, but they can’t afford to take his $5.7 million cap hit. They’ll only save $2.1 million by cutting him, but where else can they make up that money? Cutting Arrington isn’t ideal either, since he’ll only save $1.3 million against the cap.

Feb 1, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; New England Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork (75) in Super Bowl XLIX against the Seattle Seahawks at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

So what can they do? Re-negotiate with Jerod Mayo who is essentially impossible to cut due to his $4.5 million injury guarantee?

That sounds like a solid plan (honestly, anything that could save a significant amount of cap must be explored), and he should be open to negotiations after suffering a second season-ending injury. Mayo is also no longer as important to the team after both Jamie Collins and Dont’a Hightower emerged as two of the league’s best LBs last season.

The Patriots, like the New Orleans Saints, have one of the most difficult cap situations, and even their best cap-saving options aren’t ideal. We’ll have to see what happens to Revis before judging what the Patriots should do with the rest of their roster, but I have a feeling Vince Wilfork won’t be the only notable cut from the Pats.

Even though losing either McCourty or Revis wouldn’t be a “cut”, it would be a much tougher loss to swallow than any of the other departures this team could face.

And while Wilfork is still a highly effective run defender, he was the easiest cap casualty for the Patriots to make, since he saved them just over $8 million overall by only costing them about $866,000 in dead money.

That’s huge for the Patriots, and it underscores just how obvious of a decision this was, especially with Easley potentially ready to emerge.

Next: Could Bush be an option if Pats are under the cap?

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