I've been ready to move on from the Patriots debacle with Wes Welker for the last few weeks and today's news makes me happy and more importantly, it should help Tom Brady feel better about this franchise going forward. New England has reportedly re-signed right tackle Sebastian Vollmer to a four-year deal.
Vollmer is the team's best offensive lineman and one of the better right tackles in the NFL, he was a second-team All Pro in 2010 and second-team Pro Football Focus All Pro in 2012. With all the free agents on the move, it seems like the offensive linemen market never really got going as much as the other more sexy positions which is to be expected I guess. After Welker went to Denver and Aqib Talib re-signed with the Pats, Vollmer was the other very important piece that they needed to address.
He was a second round pick (58th overall) in 2009 by New England out of the University of Houston. He played in 14 games his rookie season, made 16 starts in 2010, played in six games in 2011 (5 starts) and started all 15 games he played in the 2012 regular season. Vollmer had a minor knee surgery in February but he should be fine for training camp this summer. The German will be 29 in October but keep in mind that he got started playing football later than most and offensive linemen tend to peak later than most.
This was a move that the Patriots had to make to stabilize their offensive line (which has been solid the last few seasons) and give Brady confidence that they were making the best decisions for the 2013 season and rest of his career in New England.
UPDATE 3/25: Vollmer's deal is worth a max of $27 million with $7 million signing bonus, $7.75 in base salaries and $10 million in incentives/roster bonuses.
UPDATE 3/28: The Pats signed free agent wide receiver Michael Jenkins. Last season with the Vikings he had 40 catches for 449 yards and two touchdowns.
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