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LaCanfora: Strong Chance Mankins/VJax Report Anyway
Of course just after I post about the potential trade talk, The Can posts this about the language in the CBA making it likely they could be in the same situation next year if they don’t report. I think a trade still makes sense. Mankins and VJax have both had acrimonious holdouts. Why not give both of them a fresh start across the country from the teams they’ve been battling with?
Curran: Pats/Chargers Talking VJax for Mankins
File this in the “take it with a grain of salt” file considering Tom E’s usually hit or miss, but a Mankins for Vincent Jackson trade has to make sense for both clubs at this point. The problem is that the Chargers brass aren’t big fans of the Patriots. Just a couple years ago their entire personnel philosophy was based on beating the Pats so I’m sure they’re not exactly jumping up and down about giving a beast of a wide receiver in his prime to the Pats. Mankins would certainly make it a little easier.
I can’t vouch for this guy but he seems to be a New York radio personality that had good sources when the whole Revis deal went down, and he’s saying that those same trusted sources are telling him the Pats are interested in Vincent Jackson.
You can see his twitter feed where he made the announcement here.
We had heard last year that the Pats have Vincent Jackson rated as their top wide receiver in the NFL (outside of Foxboro I assume) so it probably isn’t much of a secret that they think he’s a player.
The problem starts with Vincent Jackson wanting to be paid somewhere in the $9 million per year range while Randy Moss and Logan Mankins are already complaining about the Patriots and money. Don’t forget Wes Welker’s going to want a new deal pretty soon too. Not sure the Patriots could put together a compensation package that would attract Jackson, and if they did it might make waves in the locker room.
Clearly with seven picks in the first four rounds of the 2011 draft they could probably figure out a compensation package for the Chargers. Though San Diego would probably loathe sending him to New England.
On the field is the place it would make the most sense, especially if Randy Moss is gone after this year.
Sunday divisional-playoffs preview: Tom Brady will lead potent Patriots offense to AFC title game | Shutdown Corner – Yahoo! Sports Nice breakdown with a lot of mention of Football Outsiders’ metrics, which you’ll find a lot here as well. The Texans defense and running game should keep things close, but as Phillips noted, the Patriots […]