Deadline to kick in: Vinatieri?s nearly free

Deadline to kick in: Vinatieri?s nearly free
By John Tomase/ Combine notebook
Monday, February 27, 2006 - Updated: 12:55 AM EST

INDIANAPOLIS - The clock is ticking on negotiations between the Patriots and
kicker Adam Vinatieri.
The Patriots have until Friday to strike a deal with the franchise?s
all-time leading scorer or risk letting him hit the open market as a free
agent.
Vinatieri was a hot topic at the scouting combine yesterday, with buzz
centering on an unlikely potential suitor - the Green Bay Packers.
Currently in negotiations with their own free agent kicker, Ryan
Longwell, the Pack are rumored to be considering letting Longwell walk and
making a run at Vinatieri, perhaps the best cold-weather kicker in history.
Patriots spokesman Stacey James refused to confirm whether the Patriots
are meeting with Vinatieri?s agent, Jonathan Hurst, citing club policy not
to discuss ongoing negotiations. Hurst did not return calls.
Earlier this week, the Patriots chose not to franchise Vinatieri, which
would have guaranteed him a one-year contract worth $3.01 million.
Complicating matters is the lack of an extension to the collective
bargaining agreement, which has all but eliminated long-term contracts this
winter.
Earlier this week, Patriots coach Bill Belichick said the team accepted
that Vinatieri could become a free agent.
?If we don?t do a deal with him, then he?ll be a free agent,? Belichick
said. ?We?ve had players in free agency before, and we?ll have them again.
It takes two parties to make a deal.?
Few if any kickers in league history have had as storied a career as
Vinatieri, whose name has become synonymous with clutch. He owns two Super
Bowl-winning field goals, as well as 10 straight seasons of 100 or more
points.
If the Patriots fail to sign him by Friday, he?s expected to have no
shortage of suitors. The Dallas Cowboys could be in the mix, particularly
since head coach Bill Parcells gave Vinatieri his start in 1996.
Parcells also has a history of swiping away marquee free agents from the
Patriots, his acquisition of running back Curtis Martin leaving the Pats
reeling in 1998.
Another Fresno fit?
Belichick has shown no hesitation to draft players with ties to his
former assistant coaches, be it Nick Saban?s old LSU teams or Pat Hill?s
current Fresno State squad, which developed guard Logan Mankins and safety
James Sanders.
Cornerback Richard Marshall is another Fresno product who hasn?t talked
to the Patriots yet but would welcome a call.
?Coach Hill and coach Belichick really have the same coaching style,?
said Marshall, who kept in contact with Sanders all season.
?He left as a junior last year and I?m coming out as a junior now,?
Marshall said. ?So I just talked to him about what the experience was like
and what I could look forward to.?


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