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New England Patriots Links 7/19/11 - The Fat Lady is Warming Up; Mankins May Shut Her Up

By Marima

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<em>Logan Mankins holds up Aaron Hernandez after a TD last season, and now holds up a new CBA with his demands</em>.
Logan Mankins holds up Aaron Hernandez after a TD last season, and now holds up a new CBA with his demands.

Mike Reiss offers his opinion on Logan Mankins and the labor deal.

From this view, when considering Mankins' position, it can't hurt to make such demands because he finds himself in a position of leverage. Mankins hasn't had such leverage over the first six years of his NFL career. Still, I'd be surprised if he becomes an unrestricted free agent immediately. I'd also be surprised if Mankins uses his position as a plaintiff to possibly put the entire NFL labor agreement at risk. A more likely scenario from this view, as presented by ESPN senior analyst Chris Mortensen, is that the settlement would include a provision that the franchise tag couldn't be applied to him in 2012 and beyond.

Karen Guregian reports Leigh Bodden says he has no lingering effects from his rotator cuff surgery and plans to be a full participant at Camp.

"I’m ready for contact. No red jersey. I don’t plan on wearing that when I get there," Bodden said last week when asked about the state of his shoulder. "I’m definitely ready. I’ve been working out. I feel great. I’m just ready to play."

"You know what? A lot of guys were asking me to come [to the player workouts organized by Tom Brady]," said Bodden, who signed a lucrative four-year deal with the Pats prior to the start of last season. "But dealing with my shoulder, I just didn’t want to take any chances. If any slight thing happened to prolong me (from coming back), I couldn’t risk it. I just didn’t want to take that chance for any stupid thing happening. It just sets me back, ruins my progress. I feel like it’s fine. But I wouldn’t have any trainers to watch over me if something happens. So I just decided not to go."

"It would have been great to go out there and play with the guys. I talked to a few of them while they were doing it. They said they had a lot of fun," Bodden said. "When it comes to Tom . . . it’s just like dealing with (coach Bill) Belichick. He knows what to do. He knows how to run things. That’s what the guys said. It was organized, they put in great work, and (had) a lot of fun at the same time. I’m kind of sad I missed it. But for me, it was better safe than sorry"

"I can just see the story, of me getting hurt and maybe looking like a fool, setting myself back, and people saying, ‘Why were you out there in the first place?’ "

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