Running low on time today, i’ll be back tomorrow hopefully with some more news.

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Read More: Logan Mankins (G – NEP), New England Patriots

Logan Mankins is now a very rich man (well, he was very rich compared to most of us before, but now just by NFL standards). Mankins’ six-year contract extension with the New England Patriots is worth $51 million.

Mankins will earn base salaries of $1.5 million in 2011; $3 million in 2012; $6 million in 2013; $6.5 million in 2014; $7 million in 2015 and $7 million in 2016, according to the source. (via Mike Reiss, ESPN Boston)

The deal makes Mankins the highest paid guard in the NFL. So far, Mankins has lived up to the hype, providing exceptional protection for Tom Brady ever since he was drafted No. 32 overall in the 2005 NFL Draft.

Mankins was barred from participating in Patriots’ practice until August 4 due to the new CBA, and his status for Thursday night’s preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars is currently unknown.

For more New England Patriots coverage, visit our team page and blog, Pats Pulpit.

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Read More: Logan Mankins (G – NEP), New England Patriots

Logan Mankins isn’t going anywhere for a long time. Mankins has reportedly signed a six-year deal to remain with the New England Patriots on Wednesday afternoon, according to a report from Adam Schefter of ESPN.

Earlier in the day, Patriots owner Robert Kraft had hinted that the team was close to resigning Mankins and that he hoped to have Mankins retire as a Patriot. This extension is not a foregone conclusion, as Mankins held out for half of the season last year, and at was ultimately not expected to resign with the team.

Mankins has played with the Patriots since he was drafted No. 32 overall in the 2005 NFL Draft.

For more New England Patriots coverage, visit our team page and blog, Pats Pulpit.

Running low on time today, i’ll be back tomorrow hopefully with some more news.

Read More: Logan Mankins (G – NEP), New England Patriots

It’s been a weird couple years for G Logan Mankins and the New England Patriots. Mankins, a 2005 first round pick, has yet to reach free agency. He was one of those fifth year players who, in a normal year would be a free agent, was restricted because of the uncapped 2010 season.

He sat out for half the season in protest of his deal and, after the season ended, they restricted him again through the franchise tag. Mankins was obviously frustrated.

After all that, and the situation last year, it sounds like Mankins could actually stay in New England long-term. He has already signed his franchise tender guaranteeing him over $10 million in 2011 but Patriots owner recently told reporters that he hopes Mankins will soon be a “Patriot for life.”

Mankins said last week that it’s possible he could remain in New England on a long-term deal. Kraft’s words strongly suggest that something like that is in the works.

One wrinkle in the new rules: because Mankins is a franchised player, the two sides can’ strike a long-term deal only until Sept. 20. After that, they can’t sign him until after the season.

Check out Pats Pulpit and SB Nation Boston for reactions and updates.

There is the quick update of the day.

Read More: nfl training camp, nfl free agents, Kevin Faulk (RB – NEP), Matt Light (OT – NEP), Logan Mankins (G – NEP), Sammy Morris (RB – NEP), Albert Haynesworth (DT – NEP), Kyle Arrington (CB – NEP), BenJarvus Green-Ellis (RB – NEP), New England Patriots

Those looking to get their fill of the New England Patriots this week will have to brave the rains, it appears. 

After a day off on Monday, the Pats will practice Tuesday and Wednesday from 1:30 – 4:30 on the fields behind Gillette Stadium in Foxboro as well as a 6:30-9 p.m. practice on the turf at The Razor. 

The Wednesday evening practice will be for season ticket holders only.

Fans should be able to see more of Albert Haynesworth at these practices, presuming that the gargantuan defensive lineman continues to improve his conditioning, something that’s been a point of contention in his recent past. 

Beginning on Thursday, newly signed free agents can join the team in practice, meaning that Logan Mankins, Matt Light, Kevin Faulk, Sammy Morris, Kyle Arrington and others will finally be able to practice alongside their teammates. 

The Patriots are hopeful that by that point, BenJarvus Green-Ellis will have reported to camp as well and the team will have a full staff.

Gotta run!.

Read More: Tom Brady (QB – NEP), Logan Mankins (G – NEP), New England Patriots

The NFL Lockout could be over in a matter of hours. Owners approved a new CBA by a vote of 31-0 (with the Oakland Raiders abstaining), meaning that it’s all up to the players association to approve, and then football will return.

For the New England Patriots, team president Jonathan Kraft was in attendance in place of his father and team owner Robert Kraft, who is morning the loss of his wife Myra Hiatt Kraft, who passed away at age 68 on Wednesday.

The Patriots owners and players have had a strong presence all throughout the lockout. The antitrust lawsuit filed by the players against the owners lists two Patriots players – Tom Brady and Logan Mankins – as plaintiffs.

Mankins was reportedly holding up a new deal early on Thursday, as reports surfaced citing that he had demanded $10 million or unrestricted free agency in order for him to sign off on the new CBA.

For more NFL Lockout coverage, visit SB Nation and follow our StoryStream.

That’s all the news for today.

A view of the New England Patriots helmet. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

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New England Patriots offensive lineman Stephen Neal’s unexpected 10-year NFL career is coming to an end. Neal, who improbably went from collegiate wrestler to professional football blocker, is retiring, the team announced Wednesday.

The decision does not come as a surprise. The 34-year-old Neal had considered retirement last offseason before re-signing with the Patriots for two years.

Neal’s progression from college wrestler to pro football player was one of coach Bill Belichick’s favorite stories to tell.

Neal had not played football at Cal State-Bakersfield; instead, he was a top wrestler, posting a 151-10 record that included two Division I titles. In 2001, Neal signed with the Patriots as a rookie free agent and Belichick has joked in the past that the team had to teach him how to put on football equipment.

By 2004, Neal broke through as a consistent starter, the balance and leverage he had utilized in wrestling transferring to the field. One of the high points of his career came that season when he was the starting right guard as the Patriots won Super Bowl XXXIX.

In all, Neal played in 86 regular-season games, with 81 starts. He also played in 12 playoff games, starting each of them.

Injuries have been mounting for Neal in recent years. In 2010, he was limited to eight games with a shoulder injury and was placed on season-ending injured reserve Dec. 2. After the season, Neal said he planned to rehab his shoulder injury and then make a decision about his playing future.

Six-year veteran Dan Connolly, who took over Neal’s spot at right guard last season after his injury, is the team’s projected starter entering 2011.

This could be one of several changes for the Patriots along the offensive line, as starting left tackle Matt Light is scheduled for unrestricted free agency and starting left guard Logan Mankins has been assigned the franchise tag.

Mike Reiss covers the New England Patriots for ESPNBoston.com. You can follow him on Twitter or leave a question for his weekly mailbag.

That’s all for today guys, i’ll be back to blog you tomorrow.

If anybody needs tickets to games, remember to click the tickets link at the top.

Not much else going on in the NFL world today.

The NFL’s league-wide game of franchise tagging began Monday, and New England Patriots All-Pro guard Logan Mankins is the first official “it,” according to ESPN.

The move was expected, even though Mankins expressed last week he wouldn’t be happy about it after holding out through eight weeks of the 2010 season. Despite playing only from Week 9, he was named the starter in the Pro Bowl for the third time in four years.

The New England Patriots officially applied the franchise tag to guard Logan Mankins today.

“Logan Mankins is one of the best players on the team,” owner Robert Kraft told reporters last week. “I just personally want to say: I hope he’s with us for a long term, and we’re going to try to do whatever we have to do to make sure that happens.”

The franchise tag for Mankins’ position comes with a one-year tender worth about $10.1 million. By tagging Mankins, the Patriots would have the right to match any offer he receives in free agency or receive two first-round picks as compensation.

Thanks for reading! .

The Boston Herald reported the New England Patriots will put the franchise tag on Pro Bowl guard Logan Mankins, who sat out seven games last season in a contract dispute with the team. Mankins has gone on record as saying he wouldn’t be happy about receiving the tag.

Guard is one of the lesser-paid positions in the NFL, and Mankins would make about $10.51 million in 2011 as a franchise player, which is the average of the top five salaries at his position last season. In an interview at the Pro Bowl a couple of weeks ago, Mankins said he was pessimistic about his chances of getting a long-term deal with the Patriots.

The New England Patriots are reportedly set to place their franchise tag on Pro Bowl guard Logan Mankins.

“I wouldn’t be happy about (being franchised), if that’s what they chose to do, to be dealt that kind of hand,’’ Mankins told The Herald at the Pro Bowl. “But we’ll see what happens. I would never say the door is totally shut. But the way it’s looking right now, I don’t see them trying to keep me, unless it’s with the franchise tag.”

The period to apply the franchise tag period opened on Thursday and ends on Feb. 24. With the collective bargaining agreement coming to an end March 3, nobody is sure whether a franchise tag will have the same stipulations in a new CBA.

Last week, Patriots owner Robert Kraft said the team is intent on keeping Mankins. “Logan Mankins is one of the best players on the team,” Kraft said. “I think there has been a little misunderstanding about some things that have been written. I just personally want to say I hope he’s with us for a long term, and we’re going to try to do whatever we have to do to make sure that happens.”

What do you guys think about this.

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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.

There is the quick update of the day.