Patriots right tackle Sebastian Vollmer banked on his health, durability and performance when he signed his contract extension this week.
If his back, knee, the remainder of his 206 bones and however many ligaments hold up over the next four seasons, he’ll join the Pats in exultation because he’ll have earned a deal that pays him as one of the best in the business.
Otherwise, not so much.
Vollmer wasn’t worried about that yesterday when he discussed his new deal for the first time. More than anything, Vollmer harped on the notion that he was “happy” to re-up with the Pats — six times, actually — and that’s something he wanted throughout the process, even during the exploratory negotiations before he hit the open market.
“I’m not going to go into details about what the contract is,” Vollmer said. “I think I’m just happy to be here. Obviously, you go into a season, (and) you’re trying to be healthy. You do everything you can. Sometimes you can’t help it. Other things you can prevent with certain preparation. Obviously, as players, we do everything we can to stay healthy and prepare ourselves for the contact and physicality of the sport. Obviously, I’ve continued to do that.”
Vollmer’s four-year contract is worth a maximum of $27 million, including a $7 million signing bonus. However, $9.25 million is performance-based incentives. That includes $6.25 million based on playing time, which will max out if he plays 90 percent of his snaps each season ($750,000 in 2013, $2 million in 2014, $1.75 million in 2015 and $1.75 million in 2016). If Vollmer only plays 80 percent of those snaps, he’ll earn $1 million in 2014, $750,000 in 2015 and $750,000 in 2016.
He can also earn a total of $2 million in bonuses by being active in every game in 2015 and 2016 ($62,500 per game). And Vollmer can get $250,000 per Pro Bowl appearance in each of his four seasons.
Naturally, the Patriots would love to get what they pay for with Vollmer, but if he falls short, the playing-time and Pro Bowl incentives don’t count against the cap unless they’re earned each season. So the team is protected.
Vollmer, a four-year veteran, has never been to a Pro Bowl and has only played 90 percent of his team snaps once (and 80 percent an additional time), so it’s a risk. But he was comfortable with it, and he maintained yesterday that he’s feeling strong after an offseason knee scope.
“You kind of deal with injuries the way they come and you do what’s necessary for you to play with treatment and rehab and whatever else goes with it,” Vollmer said. “Again, I feel really good now and I’m really looking forward to this upcoming season.”
Pats notes
The Patriots added some depth to a thin wide receiving corps yesterday by signing nine-year veteran Michael Jenkins.
The 6-foot-4, 214-pounder, who turns 31 in June, was a first-round pick out of Ohio State in 2004 and spent seven seasons with the Falcons before joining the Vikings for the past two years. Jenkins has 354 career catches for 4,427 yards and 25 touchdowns. In his last two seasons with the Vikings, Jenkins had 78 receptions for 915 yards and five touchdowns.
Jenkins joins wide receivers Danny Amendola, Donald Jones, Kamar Aiken, Jeremy Ebert, Andre Holmes and Matthew Slater on the Pats roster.
The Patriots released wide receiver Shun White, who had been on the reserve/military list since 2009. The United States Navy recently gave White permission to attend training camp, according to a source, so the transaction came as a surprise.
