Having faith that the Patriots front office has for the most part done right by its fandom so far, doesn't help my nagging concerns about the fate of our players whose contracts are set to expire in the near future. John Tomase brought it to my attention with his article in Sunday's Herald, and it made me curious to know exactly which Patriots are up for a new contract and need to be signed and taken care of so I can rest easy in the off-season.
First a disclaimer. I'm not completely sure how accurate this list is, so please feel free to correct me where it's wrong. Aside from John Tomase's initial teaser on Sunday, this information is taken from Miguel's Very Unofficial Patriots Free Agency Page. Thank you Miguel.
Here is a listing of when each current Patriots player will become a free agent in the future:
Excusive Rights FA - Raymond Ventrone (S)
Restricted FA - Eric Alexander (LB), Wesley Britt (T), Pierre Woods (LB)
Unrestricted FA
Matt Cassel (QB)
Rosevelt Colvin (LB)
Heath Evans, (FB)
Jabar Gaffney, (WR)
Chris Hanson (P)
Rodney Harrison (SS)
Russ Hochstein (G)
Larry Izzo (LB)
Lamont Jordan (RB)
Deltha O'Neal (CB)
Lonie Paxton (LS)
James Sanders (S)
Lewis Sanders (CB)
Junior Seau (LB)
Kenny Smith (DE)
Tank Williams (S)
Mike Wright (DT)
March 1, 2010 (uncapped)
Exclusive Rights FA - Gary Guyton (LB)
Restricted FA
Eric Alexander (LB)
Wesley Britt (T)
Stephen Gostkowski (K)
Ellis Hobbs (CB)
Nick Kaczur (T)
Logan Mankins (G)
Ryan O'Callaghan (T)
Le Kevin Smith (DE)
Stephen Spach (TE)
David Thomas (TE)
Raymond Ventrone (S)
Pierre Woods (LB0
Billy Yates (G)
Unrestricted FA
Sam Aiken, WR
Tedy Bruschi, LB
Kevin Faulk, RB
Jarvis Green, DE
Matt Light (OT)
Stephen Neal (G)
Richard Seymour (DE)
Mike Vrabel (LB)
Kelley Washington, WR
Ben Watson (TE)
Vince Wilfork (DT)
Miguel also includes an Unofficial Salary Cap page, which includes player salaries, bonuses, and cap information with documentation on where he got his information. Pretty cool.