Logan Mankins Will Sign Tender, Report To Patriots On Tuesday

Should the Patriots and their fans welcome back Mankins with open arms now that his holdout is over? According to Pats Pulpit, absolutely:

Mankins, like Jackson, was supposed to become a free agent this year. But, with the cap-less season, the minimum service time required for free agency rose from four to six years. This way if Mankins reports he can accrue another season and (hopefully for him) become an unrestricted free agent next year.

All parties involved declined comment.

It’s no surprise that the Patriots, one of the more ideologically steadfast organizations in the NFL, would be so demanding. But it’s also not a stunner that Mankins refused to kowtow to their wishes.

But both the Patriots and Mankins must have prepared for a divorce. Why else would the team risk not having him on the field by asking him to bend to their whims, and why else would Mankins draw a line in the sand over an apology when millions were at stake?

The Logan Mankins holdout has officially begun.

The two-time Pro Bowler skipped the start of the Patriots minicamp, which began today, the Associated Press reports.

In the least surprising news of the day, Patriots coach Bill Belichick declined to discuss Logan Mankins trade request, according to Mike Reiss of ESPN.com.

Belichick never talks about this sort of stuff so it’s not surprising that he didn’t today. Mankins did take some pretty heavy shots at the Patriots brass indicating at one point that owner Robert Kraft reneged on a promise to give him a new deal after the 2009 season.

The Patriots had an offer on the table to Logan Mankins before he requested a trade on Monday, according to Albert Breer of the Boston Globe.

The total value of the deal, Breer reports, was $35 million over five years for an average of $7 million per year.