The New England Patriots have a number of areas to address this offseason and one of them is their backfield. With $156 million committed to the 2015 season, can the Patriots afford to keep running back Shane Vereen?
The salary cap for next season is projected to be $142 million and New England is well above that mark. However, that includes cornerback Darrelle Revis' $25 million salary, which the team is likely to renegotiate since it's a player option they would need to pick up. But they'll still be in a tight spot, especially if they hope to keep Vereen.
"Vereen is hopeful to land a contract worth at least $5 million per season, according to a source," writes Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald. "Now, that's obviously a sign of a player who wants to start high with his negotiations with the realization that the price will drop throughout the back-and-forth with his suitors, but the desire to get paid means he'll almost certainly hit the open market March 10 for the beginning of free agency."
Howe also noted that the Pats and Vereen exchanged contract proposals prior to the 2014 season, but were unable to arrive at an agreement. The 25-year-old has a lot of mileage left in the tank since he has only carried the ball 217 times for 907 yards and has 107 receptions for 1,023 yards in four NFL seasons. He has shown the ability to perform in a starting role and he should garner interest on the free agent market, especially since the 2015 draft class doesn't have much premiere talent at the running back position.
The Patriots have a bailout option and can probably re-sign running back Stevan Ridley to a cheaper one-year deal because he's returning from a torn ACL and MCL. Ben Volin of the Boston Globe suggests, "Let RB Shane Vereen walk in free agency unless he is willing to come back on a team-friendly deal," and it looks like he'll be walking based on Howe's report.
The Pats still have to deal with the impending free agencies of Revis, safety Devin McCourty, guard Dan Connolly, kicker Stephen Gostkowski and others. They're likely to use the franchise tag on McCourty while they'll have to negotiate with the others and hopefully get deals done before March 10.
