Aqib Talib played well for the Patriots after they acquired him from the Buccaneers just before the trade deadline, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be in New England for long.
Comcast SportsNet’s Mike Giardi reports that the Patriots have enough concerns about Talib’s work ethic that they question whether they can trust him to stay motivated if they give him a multi-year deal with significant guaranteed money.
That’s no surprise: Talib has great talent for the cornerback position, but he always been known as a player whose character red flags make coaches leery of him. Bill Belichick won’t want to dedicate a lot of salary cap space to a player who isn’t going to buy into the Patriot way.
However, if the Patriots won’t offer Talib a big contract when he becomes a free agent next month, some other team probably will. Which means there’s a real chance that the Patriots will have given up a fourth-round draft pick just for the right to rent Talib for half a season.