Patriots Could Approach Negotiations With CB Aqib Talib With Caution

Patriots owner Bob Kraft joined 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Felger and Mazz show last Friday to discuss a few things regarding the team as they head into the offseason.

One interesting takeaway from Kraft’s interview is that is sounds as though the Patriots could approach their negotiations with impending free agent CB Aqib Talib with caution in the coming weeks.

“Well we want to retain all the good players we can retain,” Kraft said, via CSNNE.com (h/t to Around the League). “It’s not like we have unlimited funding so . . . He wasn’t on the field a lot of the time since he’s been with us. It’s a balance of us balancing all that out and what is he worth. I think he’s happy here and would like to be here and we’re happy with him and we’d like to have him here and now it’s just about doing business.”

• Tom Curran mentions that the Patriots could end up using their franchise tag on Talib this season, even though it’s likely to run them close to $11.25 million.
• Mike Reiss wrote earlier in the week that Talib could come close to a three or four-year deal worth $6-8 million annually and guarantees in the $12-14 million range on the open market. Reiss added that he expects Talib to be back in New England next year, but stresses that his asking price will be a big determining factor.

Talib, 27, came over from the Buccaneers in return for a fourth-round pick. Since then, Talib has been the Patriots best cover corner and started the season off great before injuries appeared to take a toll. He was voted to his first Pro Bowl this year and was even named a second team All-Pro cornerback.

The Patriots have some cap space to work with, but they could probably use some more if they plan on locking up Talib long-term. It seems likely that the Patriots will approach some of their high-priced players about restructuring their contracts.

We have him listed as the No. 18 player in our Top 50 Free Agents list.