The New England Patriots are playing with fire. The Pats head coach Bill Belichick appears unwilling to lock up star offensive lineman Logan Mankins by awarding him the contract he obviously deserves. Mankins is arguably the best guard in the NFL, and the Patriots cannot afford to lose him.

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Mankins was given the franchise tag last year, but he chose to sit out the first eight weeks of the season, before returning in Week 9 for the Cleveland Browns game. Looks like he knows how to play hardball with Coach Belichick too.

Mankins is quoted in the Boston Herald friday, “I would never say the door is totally shut,’’ he said. “But the way it’s looking right now, I don’t see it happening. I don’t see them trying to keep me, unless it’s with the franchise tag.’’

This situation doesn’t look promising. The offensive line looks to take other hits as Matt Light is headed into free agency, right guard Stephen Neal is in his last year.

The Patriots are looking forward to the NFL draft. They are the only team with two first-round picks. Numbers 17 and 28. Coach Belichick has a history of using the draft to restock his lineup, plugging in rookies where needed. But will the Patriots actually use these coveted picks or trade them to get more picks in lower rounds? This would not be surprising as this has been their method-of-operation in the past.

Check out the list of the best available draft picks in the upcoming draft from NFL.com.

Another day, another snowstorm. Considering the weekend before the Super Bowl might be the slowest, most uneventful of the year, let’s take a couple of quick swings around the globe.

SNOW MAS: Does anyone have an advance printing of the 2014 edition of “The Old Farmer’s Almanac?” It would sure be nice to have some preparation for February 2014 when the New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., plays host to Super Bowl XLVIII.

Imagine if the most important game in America takes place during a blizzard, or worse — “Thunder Snow?” Would those hypothetical frigid, wintery conditions be embraced or scorned? Probably depends who you ask — the media members inside the stadium likely would be cranky, as usual, while the viewers on television would love watching the Super Bowl played against a frosty backdrop. The players themselves? Open to debate.

Here’s perhaps a better question: Would a game played in winter weather conditions be a fair way to decide the 2014 NFL championship?

For all the time spent during the week dissecting the NFL — quadruple it in the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl — how often is field surface brought up? Think about the difference between playing in a dome or on a fast artificial surface or the sand pit known as Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field. This even boils down to the high school level, where a growing majority of regional teams play on FieldTurf-type surfaces, while the CIAC state finals were played at Rentschler Field in East Hartford on a surface that appeared, in parts, to be sand that was spray-painted green. (To their credit, players and coaches said the footing at the Rent wasn’t an issue.)

In short, should field conditions and/or weather play a role in determining the NFL champion, or does it make sense for the two Super Bowl participants to play the game in a sterile, fishbowl-type atmosphere, either in a dome or some warm-weather locale like Pasadena, Calif.?

Though field surface isn’t among its topics, it’s something that possibly could have been discussed in the upcoming book “Scorecasting: The Hidden Influences Behind How Sports are Played and Games are Won,” written by Tobais J. Moskowitz and Sports Illustrated’s L. Jon Wertheim. The book is being billed as a “Freakonomics” for sports.

New York Giants fans will be hooked from the start, with the first chapter opening with an unseen, underrated aspect of the now legendary Eli Manning 32-yard pass to David Tyree in the waning minutes of Super Bowl XLII.

PRO BOWLED OVER: Legitimate question: Is there a single person on Earth who actively looks forward to watching the Pro Bowl?

My guess, there probably isn’t.

With that in mind, a few football-themed suggestions that would be more entertaining television than the annual AFC vs. NFC grudge match from Hawaii:

• Any selection from the NFL Network’s engrossing slate of “Top 10″ lists.

• “Behind the Music: Super Bowl Shuffle” edition.

• The 1993 “NFL Quarterback Challenge.”

• The recent HBO documentary on Vince Lombardi.

• A John Facenda-voiced robot reading the phone book.

In essence, give us anything NFL-related as long as it doesn’t involve either Terrell Owens or Chad Ochocinco.

INSIDE INFO: In this space, I’d like to write something about UConn booster Robert Burton withdrawing his financial support to the football team last week in a much-publicized letter to the school’s athletic director, Jeff Hathaway, chastising him for hiring Paul Pasqualoni without consulting him first. Problem is, former Husky Rob Lunn, a person closer to the situation than I’ll ever be, summed up the whole sad affair perfectly this week on Deadspin.com. I highly recommend checking out his thoughtful, rational take on the situation.

NEW YORK’S NO. 1: Only WFAN’s Mike Francesa would find it necessary to have Dan Lauria — the actor portraying Vince Lombardi in the off-Broadway play “Lombardi” — in the studio not once, but twice in a span of two months. Riveting radio … or the exact opposite. Take your pick.

Contact Mike Cardillo at mcardillo@ctpost.com or follow on Twitter, @CTPostCardillo

So much for that laid back trip to Hawaii.

Pro Bowl left guard Logan Mankins told the Boston Herald on Friday that he thinks “the door is totally shut” on a return to the Patriots. Mankins, a free agent who sat out the first seven games of last season in protest, said the Patriots haven’t approached him about a new contract, and he’d be peeved if they decided to use the franchise tag on him.

This now marks the second consecutive offseason that Mankins has started a public battle with the organization that selected him in the first round of the 2005 draft. When he reported to the Patriots during the regular season, he said he didn’t accomplish everything he hoped by sitting out, but he never again spoke poorly of the organization.

This has got to make for an awkward week in Honolulu, where Mankins, six Patriots teammates and Bill Belichick‘s coaching staff are preparing for the Pro Bowl. Apparently, Belichick hasn’t used this time to convince Mankins to remain in New England.

It would be a mistake for the Patriots to let Mankins walk away. Clearly, they had enough respect for his game to start him in Week 9 against the Browns after practicing just three times, and Mankins was voted as a Pro Bowl starter by his peers despite his limited playing time in 2010.

Without Mankins, the Patriots would likely use Dan Connolly at left guard next season, and that would increase the importance of Stephen Neal‘s decision about his future. Neal, the team’s starting right guard, has one year left on his contract and has hinted that a string of injuries could cause him to retire. Without Mankins or Neal, Ryan Wendell would be the current starter at right guard.

There’s no telling where Mankins would wind up, but the Patriots would have to fear one possibility. The Jets, who might have the best offensive line in the NFL, might be intrigued at the prospects of upgrading their left guard position, which was the closest thing to a weak spot they had up front this season.

Of course, the Patriots could end all of that speculation by locking up their best offensive lineman to a long-term contract. As of Friday, though, those chances look grim.

Should the Patriots re-sign Logan Mankins? Leave your thoughts below.

All-Pro guard Logan Mankins doesn’t think he’ll return to the New England Patriots next season, according to a Boston Herald report Friday.

Mankins feels as though the team isn’t willing to lock him up to a long-term deal and says there hasn’t been any talks on a new contract, and the only way he sees himself back in a Pats unifrom is if they place the franchise tag on him, the Herald reported.

“No, I wouldn’t be happy about [a potential franchise tag], if that’s what they chose to do, to be dealt that kind of hand,” Mankins said Thursday after Pro Bowl practice in Hawaii, according to the report. “But we’ll see what happens.”

Mankins’ contract with the Patriots is up and, contingent upon the rules set forth in the new collective bargaining agreement, he almost certainly will be an unrestricted free agent.

Mankins was supposed to be unrestricted last offseason, but rules for an uncapped year made him restricted. The Patriots offered him a basic qualifying offer. He was furious, refused to sign the one-year, $3.26 million tender, and missed the first seven games until he acquiesced.

When he failed to sign the original tender by midnight on June 14, the Patriots reduced the tender to $1.54 million, which was further reduced because it was prorated over the portion of the season Mankins was with the team. He joined the Patriots for the final nine games of the regular season.

Had he failed to report in time for the last six games of the season, he wouldn’t have accrued enough service time to earn credit for playing this season, which could have jeopardized his free-agent status.

Under that timeframe, he actually reported several weeks earlier than he had to.

Whether the Patriots and Mankins can put aside the rancor associated with his holdout remains to be seen. Owner Robert Kraft initially insisted that Mankins make a public apology for the contract dispute before returning to the team. Mankins did apologize privately to Kraft but refused to do so publicly.

“Well, everyone knows I apologized to Mr. Kraft,” Mankins said. “He told everyone.”

Despite missing so much time, Mankins was voted a starter for the Pro Bowl and selected first-team All-Pro.

“I would never say the door is totally shut,” he said Thursday, according to the Herald report. “But the way it’s looking right now, I don’t see it happening. I don’t see them trying to keep me, unless it’s with the franchise tag.”

Information from ESPN.com’s Tim Graham, ESPNBoston.com’s Mike Reiss and The Associated Press was used in this report.

Yes, there was a post-New England hangover, according to Darrelle Revis.

The New York Jets’ star cornerback, speaking Thursday at the Pro Bowl in Hawaii, said the team was “relaxed” during a listless first half in the AFC Championship Game.

Several players admitted after losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers that the team came out flat, but they refused to connect it to the previous week’s emotional and stunning upset of the Patriots — until Revis.

Asked by the NFL Network if there was a letdown after the divisional win in New England, Revis said, “I think … you could say that. Yeah, you could say that. On people’s body language, you can kind of see guys just relaxed. Guys are relaxed and didn’t know what was at stake. That’s why we came out so flat and we didn’t finish strong.”

It’s mind-boggling to think a team could lack emotion in a championship game, especially a franchise that hasn’t been to the Super Bowl in 42 years, but the Jets got pushed around and fell behind 24-0. Unofficially, they missed 11 tackles in the first half, unable to slow the Steelers’ powerful running game.

Revis said several leaders spoke up in the locker room at halftime, including him, and the Jets made a game of it before losing 24-19.

In his Pro Bowl interview, Revis revisited his summer-long holdout, claiming he was prepared to sit out the season if he didn’t receive a new contract to his liking. He eventually signed a four-year, $46 million deal, finalized one week before the season opener.

“Yeah, I mean, we prepared for the worst,” said Revis, whose holdout was highly contentious. “[I] didn’t think I was going to play this year.”

Asked if he would’ve sat out the season, he replied, “We was leaning on that way to do that. We didn’t want it to go down that road, but I have to do what’s best for me and my agents have to do what’s best for me as well.”

“I just think the whole situation got out of hand, it really did,” he continued. “That’s why I wasn’t in the media, not trying to say nothing, just keep quiet and relax and one day it’s going to get done, and I’ll be playing football again.”

Revis made the Pro Bowl for the third time in four seasons.

Rich Cimini covers the Jets for ESPNNewYork.com. Follow him on Twitter.