Market Value Set for Mankins

If your jaw dropped five feet from the amount of Jahri Evans’ new contract, understand a smile of equal distance stretched across the face of Logan Mankins’ agent Frank Bauer.

In case you missed it, before the Lawrence Taylor arrest and JaMarcus Russell’s release (talk about polar opposite stories – Taylor goes to a New York prison while Russell gets out of Oakland, which replicates the depressing hopelessness found behind bars), the Saints agreed to pay Evans $56.7 million over seven years, the biggest contract in NFL history for a guard.

Mankins, meanwhile, remains far away from the Patriots organized team activities (OTA), working on his ranch as he waits in limbo as a restricted free agent. New England gave Mankins the highest tender, meaning any team that signed Logan to an offer sheet would have to give away a first and third round pick to the Pats for Mankins. It’s a price teams were unwilling to pay.

Sitting down at the bargaining table with the Pats hasn’t happened either, as communication between the two sides has been practically non-existent. But maybe Evans’ contract is the spark needed to get Mankins and the Pats talking.

Back in February, New England slapped the franchise tag on NT Vince Wilfork. Though disappointed, Wilfork accepted it as long as it was part of the process towards reaching a new agreement.

I don’t know how many exchanges were made between the Patriots and Wilfork’s people, but after Pittsburgh agreed with NT Casey Hampton on a three-year $21.3 million contract on February 25th, Wilfork and the Patriots reached a five-year deal worth up to $40 million on March 8.

It could simply be coincidence that the Pats and Wilfork agreed less than 10 days after the Steelers and Hampton shook hands. But it looks like once Hampton’s deal set the market, Wilfork’s people had their baseline to negotiate from. Once the market was set, hammering out a deal that made Wilfork one of the highest paid defensive tackles in the league became much easier.

Which brings us back to Mankins. Now that Bauer knows the value of a top guard in the league, when negotiations open between Bauer and the Patriots, he will try to get a contract for around Evan’s $8 million per year.

Figuring out a value for Mankins is up for debate. Bauer will argue that Logan is worth more than Evans because he has two Pro Bowl selections to Evans’ one. New England will try to rationalize paying Logan a little less than Jahri.

If the two sides do reach an agreement, don’t be surprised when Mankins is getting paid around what Evans is getting.