Bill Belichick was asked about the rules regarding the roster exempt list on Sunday morning, and his answers on the topic only served to raise more questions.
Belichick was asked by Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com if Sunday was the deadline for any team to send a letter to a player (in this case guard Logan Mankins) to declare a team’s right to put the player on the roster exempt list.
“I’m not sure, but I don’t think it affects any of our players. I’m not sure the exact date on that,” Belichick said.
Belichick was asked if it would affect Mankins, and Belichick simply said, “He’s not under contract.”
It’s quite possible Belichick was just being purposefully vague, not including Mankins as one of “our players.” Mankins’ agent said Friday he expected to receive the letter soon, just like Marcus McNeill and Vincent Jackson did in San Diego. It appears Mankins’ agent may have misread the Patriots’ intentions.
Frankly, we’re trying to track down how Belichick’s answers coalesce with the information coming out of San Diego.
We’ll follow up when we know more.