Tom Brady and Jerod Mayo were two of five New England Patriots captains for the 2011 season, the team announced on Thursday. Logan Mankins, Vince Wilfork, Devin McCourty and Matthew Slater round out the group of team captains.

Brady, Wilfork, Mankins and Mayo all make sense, leaving McCourty and Slater as the surprise picks. McCourty came on strong in his rookie season with the team, recording seven interceptions and 60 tackles (13 assists) in 16 games.

Slater, a third-year veteran, was named the special teams captain. In three seasons in New England, Slater has returned 22 kicks for 424 (19.3 yards/return) in 43 career games.

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 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

Logan Mankins has already signed his one-year franchise tender worth $10 million for the 2011 season, and according to Pats owner Robert Kraft, the team is close to signing Mankins to a long-term deal.

“I hope that after locking up our core veterans and bringing in these seasons veterans as I call them, and probably you’ll see our good friend Logan Mankins will be signed up soon hopefully to be a Patriot for life,” Kraft said. (via WEEI)

Kraft, who also spoke about his late wife Myra Kraft, expressed his strong desire to bring Mankins back.

“If I have a vote it will get done,” Kraft said. “The other side’s got to want it too, but it’s our desire — it’s always been our desire — but… you can’t sign everyone you want, so you need to plan, and I think we did our planning knowing the kind of environment we were coming into, and we tried to position ourselves so we had our core veterans and we could continue to sign the people we want to sign. We very much — we think that Logan is among the best there is at his position. We drafted him and we want him. “

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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.”

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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.

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.

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