Vince Wilfork was set to earn $8.9 million in 2015 and account for $8.1 million against the Patriots' salary cap, but the team declined his option and ended his tenure in New England. The veteran said he still has some football left in him, so where will he sign?
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, the defensive tackle is considering four teams right now, including the Patriots and Houston Texans. It was already known the Texans were pursuing him, but news of the Patriots is likely a new development since they relieved themselves of a ton of salary in letting cornerbacks Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner go.
As for the two other teams, it's unknown who they are, but we can surely speculate based on needs at this point in free agency. We ran a piece yesterday about how Wilfork would be a good fit for the Baltimore Ravens, considering they traded defensive tackle Haloti Ngata to the Detroit Lions and could probably get Wilfork at a reduced price.
However, the Ravens are another team with a tight salary cap situation, so there's a chance Wilfork's demands will exceed what they're able to do.
Another intriguing destination for Wilfork would be the New York Giants. Yes, they have a tight salary cap too, but there are different factors that contribute to that compared to the Ravens' situation. First off, the Giants applied the franchise tag to Jason Pierre-Paul and he's currently set to account for $14.8 million against the cap. However, they're trying to negotiate a long-term deal with the defensive end, and that would usually entail a back-loaded contract in order to avoid handicapping themselves in the near future.
Additionally, New York has been adding players during free agency - Shane Vereen, Dwayne Harris, Jonathan Casillas and Marshall Newhouse - while the Ravens have been getting rid of players - Ngata, Torrey Smith, Pernell McPhee, Owen Daniels, Chris Canty and likely Justin Forsett. The fact that the Ravens are sending off people and still have little money to spend doesn't bode well for any investments in the near future. They have other voids to fill on both sides of the ball and they can make due at the defensive tackle spot for now with Timmy Jernigan and Brandon Williams.
The Giants were rumored to have been ready to pursue Ndamukong Suh, but that was put to rest shortly after the Miami Dolphins offered him a mammoth deal. New York also only has four defensive tackles signed on for 2015, two of whom are Markus Kuhn and Jay Bromley, so the addition of Wilfork would serve a useful purpose.
"Big Blue has so far made it known that they want to focus on and further develop their defensive line for this season and all this news is evidence of that," writes Daniel Graham of ChatSports.com. "Now that Pierre-Paul and Hankins are the clear-cut starters at their positions, the Giants could look around for more players to fill the other two spots ... If Wilfork does come to the Giants, he offers the experience and characteristics to be the guiding light of the young, defensive line he'll be working with, much like in the same fashion as George Martin was during the Giants' defensive brilliance in the mid 1980s."
