Contract year players: Shane Vereen

Vereen is a free agent next year. (Damian Strohmeyer - SI)

Following my previous article in this series on Stevan Ridley, I will look at the likelihood of running back Shane Vereen re-signing with the team following this season.

So, as of late, it seems much more likely that Shane Vereen could be back next year, following the ACL and MCL tears of Stevan Ridley. During Thursday night's game against the Jets, Vereen was finally called upon to be the receiving back he has always been capable of being, churning out big plays in the passing game, and rushing with purpose. So far this season, Vereen has one touchdown on 53 rushing attempts for 259 yards, which is an impressive 4.9 yards per carry. He has also caught 23 passes for 185 yards, and two touchdowns that came last week.

While Vereen has yet to be given a full game loads worth of rushing attempts, what he has done in limited action in the run game has been fairly impressive, especially of late. He is running with reckless abandon, carrying the fearlessness of his injured teammate and friend Stevan Ridley. In the coming weeks he will be sorely needed against the Chicago Bears weak defense and the impressive onslaught of the Denver Broncos. It is in these next two weeks that we should find out how the Patriots plan on adapting to losing Ridley for the rest of the year. I fully expect Jonas Gray, and potentially James White, to get a sharp increase in snaps, where Brandon Bolden just does not appear to be a part of the offensive game plan at this point in time. Anything can change though depending on the game situation and how they plan on attacking opposing teams.

As for what Vereen could be looking at next year, I would expect the Patriots to extend him a fairly reasonable contract for no more than three years. This is due to the short shelf life of running backs, and the Patriots having potential up and comers in James White, Tyler Gaffney, and Jonas Gray waiting in the wings. Given the weak running back market, and the shift in what free agents are being offered, I can see Vereen being offered a contract very similar to what Danny Woodhead was given by San Diego. Before his extension, Woodhead was given a two year, $5.5 million dollar deal that included a $1 million dollar signing bonus, which ended up being an average annual salary of $1.75 million. Following his extension that annual salary will increase to $2.55 million dollars a year, after another 2 year, $5.5 million dollars. Vereen may not get that much, but I wouldn't be surprised for somewhere between $1.5-$2.5 million a year, depending on length and the Patriot favored incentive based escalators.

Should Vereen finish the season healthy, and continue his success, it would only make sense for the Patriots to offer him a contract. If Ridley is able to make a full recovery, in time, the Patriots may offer him a one year "prove-it" deal and let him try to retain his spot over the younger backs. Neither are a guarantee at this point, especially with how Belichick deals with his personnel, but Vereen has a significantly higher likelihood of re-signing than most other expiring contract players, given what he can provide to the offense.

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