On Tuesday afternoon, the New England Patriots traded 6-time Pro Bowl G Logan Mankins to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for TE Tim Wright and a 4th round draft pick in 2015.

Mankins, 32, has been with the Patriots since being drafted by the team in 2005 out of Fresno State. The trade will alleviate some cap space as the team also saved about $4.25 M in cap space this season. Some foresee this as moving money around to in order to sign CB Darrelle Revis long-term.

Mankins has been one of the faces of the Patriots for the past several seasons, was third in team seniority behind Tom Brady and Vince Wilfork and had been a captain since 2011.

Wright, 24, played for Rutgers and signed with Tampa Bay as an undrafted rookie in 2013. He was considered one of the Bucs bright spots last season by many fans and media catching 54 passes for 571 yards and 5 TD’s. Wright is 6’4, 299 pounds and also has wide receiver experience.

photo credit: getty images

For the 2014 season, New England Patriots fans can listen to every play of every game on the “Safety Insurance, 98.5 The Sports Hub, Patriots Radio Network”. Each game, home and away, from preseason to post season is broadcast from the three-time Super Bowl Champions flagship station, WBZ-FM in Boston.

Back for his second season behind the microphone as the play by play voice of the Patriots is Bob Socci. Socci, who took over last season after the legendary Gil Santos retired, called Navy Football for 16 years.

In addition to Navy Football, Socci (pronounced so-she) has spent the first half of the 2013 as the radio voice of the Pawtucket Red Sox and is the lead announcer for CBS Sports Networks coverage of Patriot League basketball games.

Joining Socci is Patriots color analyst Scott Zolak who after one season as the sideline reporter came into the booth for the 2012 season after long time analyst Gino Cappelletti retired. Zolak was a former 4th round draft choice of the Patriots as a quarterback out of the University of Maryland in 1991. He was with the Patriots from 1991-98 and spent 1999 with the Miami Dolphins.

To get you ready for the game, make sure you tune in along the Patriots Radio Network three hours prior to game time for Patriots Preview and stay for three hours after the game with Patriots Postgame. Veteran TV and radio personality Gary Tanguay hosts both shows and is joined by former University of Rhode Island lineman Andy Gresh for analysis both before and after the game.

Patriots Preview is an information packed prelude to kickoff, and has the only game-day interviews with head coach Bill Belichick and Patriots president Jonathan Kraft.

Patriots Postgame wraps up the game with a breakdown of the game, live press conferences with the players who made a difference and reaction from you, the fans.

NFL game feeds are also available with a subscription to Sirius Satellite Radio and you can also receive NFL games on XM Satellite Radio with a “XM Premier Package” subscription added to your regular XM account.

Below is a list of the stations in the Patriots Radio Network.

In the final day of the 2014 NFL Draft the New England Patriots had seven picks to make with three selections in both the fourth and sixth rounds plus one in the seventh.

With pick 105 (4th Round) they selected C Bryan Stork of the National Champion Florida State Seminoles.  A former tight end, Stork is 6’4″ 315 pounds and was a consensus All-American, an Outland Trophy finalist and winner of the Rimington Award as the nations best center.

With their second selection of the fourth round New England selected Wisconsin RB James White. White ran for 1440 yards as a senior and had nine 100-yard games in 2013. He is known for good ball control having only fumbled twice in his career and can catch the ball out of the backfield.

With their final fourth round pick (140) the Patriots added even more beef and some brains to the offensive line by selecting an Aeronautics and Astronautics major from Stanford G/T Cameron Fleming. A self described “science nerd”, he wanted to be an astronaut but at 6’5″ 330 pounds he was too big.

After no fifth round picks the Pats had three 6th round sections.

With the 179th pick they grabbed their third big offensive lineman G Jon Halapio out of Florida. At 6’3″ 323 pounds he is considered a forceful blocker but lacks agility. Started 43  games for the Gators.

With their second selection of the 6th round (198) New England drafted DE Zach Moore out if Division II Concordia. At Concordia he set school records in sacks (33) and forced fumbles (6). Moore is 6’5″ 269 pounds and can play the end in a 4-3 or linebacker in a 3-4 set.

The Patriots wrapped up their sixth round by selecting DB Jemea Thomas of Georgia Tech with the 206th pick. Thomas was a four year starter and had 3 INT’s his senior year. At 5’10” 195 pounds he is physical has good read/react instincts and can play safety or corner.

With their final pick in the seventh round (244) they selected Michigan WR Jeremy Gallon who is just 5’7″ and 185 pounds. Gallon who had 170 catches in his career for 2,677 yards and 17 TD’s is the Wolverines single season receiving yards leader (1,373) and holds the B10 record for single game receiving yards with 369. That single game total is second all-time in NCAA history. Gallon also has experience returning both punts and kickoffs.

photo credit: ian bethune – sox & dawgs

The New England Patriots traded their third round pick the 93rd selection to Jacksonville for the Jaguars picks in the 4th (105) and 6th (179) rounds.

With the 62nd pick of the 2014 NFL Draft the New England Patriots selected Eastern Illinois QB Jimmy Garoppolo.

Garoppolo, who is 6’3″ and 226 pounds, started 45 games and had a 23-22 overall record but finished his senior season with the team going 13-1.

In his career at EIU he completed 1,047 passes in 1,668 attempts good for 63%. He threw for 13,156 yards, 118 TD’s and 51 INT’s.

He is very mobile, has a quick release, compact release, strong accurate arm and makes all the throws. He loves to play uptempo, he’s tough, smart and doesn’t take bad sacks. The biggest knock is he has small hands and a high fumble percentage.

photo credit: ken trevarthan/journal gazette & times-courier

With the 29th pick in the 2014 NFL Draft the New England Patriots selected DT Dominique Easley out of the University of Florida.

Easley, 22, was a three year starter for the Gators. He played in 32 games in parts of four seasons totaling 72 tackles and 18 tackles for loss between 2010-13.

While at Florida, he tore both of his ACL’s one against FSU his sophomore year and another just three games into last season. Due to the injuries he had a redshirt year of eligibility remaining but he decided to forego it for the draft.

Easley can play defensive tackle or end, is a good pass rusher, has run stopping ability and excellent pursuit effort. He is also labeled as relentless, energetic and a hard worker.

photo credit: getty images

The NFL has finalized the preseason schedule for the league and with that we finally know where and when the New England Patriots will play.  Earlier the league had released the preseason opponents.

As they do every season the Patriots will play 4 games, 2 at home and 2 on the road in the preseason including their annual battle with the New York Giants.

Here is the complete Patriots Preseason schedule, look for the regular season schedule to be released in the next few weeks.

The New England Patriots have announced the finalists for The Class of 2014 to be inducted into The Hall at Patriots Place this fall.

Returning as a finalist again is former head coach Bill Parcells.  Parcells led the Patriots to Super Bowl XXXI before leaving for the New York Jets after a dispute with owner Robert Kraft over who should get to pick the team’s players.

Parcells took over in 1993 when he decided to return to coaching and leave the broadcast booth.  He had retired in 1991 after leading the New York Giants to their first two Super Bowl victories.   With New England Parcells was 32-32 and coached the team to one Super Bowl appearance (XXXI, lost to Green Bay) after winning the AFC East in his final season with the franchise.  Under his tutelage the team went to the playoffs twice in his four seasons.

In his four years in Foxboro the team brought in several players who helped turn the fortunes of the team around under the leadership Parcells and the new ownership of the Kraft family.  Among those drafted were QB Drew Bledsoe, LB Corwin Brown, WR Troy Brown, LB Chris Slade, LB Willie McGinnest, CB Ty Law, LB Ted Johnson, RB Curtis Martin, WR Terry Glenn, S Lawyer Milloy and LB Tedy Bruschi.

Parcells was inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2013.

The second finalist is former Patriots CB Ty Law, who, as stated above, was a Parcells draftee in the 1st round out of Michigan in 1995.  Law played 10 of his 15 NFL seasons for the Patriots.

In 10 seasons in Foxboro he played in 141 games, starting 133 of them.  He had 4 sacks, 36 INT’s, 6 of which he returned for TD’s and he defensed 45 passes.  He is credited with 542 solo tackles and 96 assisted tackles for a total of 638 tackles in his New England career.  As a Patriot he made 5 Pro Bowl teams and was twice a 1st Team All-Pro selection and has a chance at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  He played in 4 Super Bowls (XXXI, lost to Green Bay) and was a three-time Super Bowl champion (XXXVI beat St. Louis, XXXVIII beat Carolina, XXXIX beat Philadelphia).  He played on 6 playoff teams and for 3 head coaches as a Patriot.

The third finalist is former Patriots CB Raymond Clayborn who was drafted by the team in 1st round of the 1977 NFL Draft out of Texas. Clayborn played 13 of his 15 NFL seasons in Foxboro as a Patriot.

In those 13 years he is credited with 36 INT’s one of which he returned for a TD. He earned 3 Pro Bowl selections as a Patriot and was on the franchise’s very first Super Bowl team (XX, lost to Chicago) in 1985 under Raymond Berry.  He played on 4 playoff teams and for 5 different head coaches as a Patriot.

You can vote for your selection for The Hall by visiting the team web page by May 15.

On Thursday, the New England Patriots and veteran All-Pro DT Vince Wilfork agreed to a new three-year contract for roughly $22 million with $3 million guaranteed.  It’s basically a one-year deal for $8 million with two one-year options for 2015 and 2016.

In the last few weeks it was reported that Wilfork wanted out going so far as to ask the club to release him and even reportedly cleaned out his locker and ripped his nameplate off of it.  So what changed?

Well let’s look at this logically.  The team asked for a restructure of his current contract and Big Vince balked.  Based on the reported history of how he had to fight for the current deal it kind of makes sense that he wouldn’t want to give up what he felt he earned.

The team on the other hand looking to add pieces for another potential Super Bowl run wanted Wilfork to make concessions other players have willingly made in the past.

You can see both sides of the ball here.

Now how mad was Wilfork?  Did he actually ask for his release? Did he really clean out his locker in a fit?  Or is this the Patriots media making something out of nothing?

With the Patriot Way we will never know, it’s how it’s done but we can look at some past history to see how badly strained this relationship may or may not have become.  In the past when players refused to play along, asked for too much money, became outspoken or became persona non-grata they were released, traded or allowed to walk away.  The list is impressive.

Drew Beldsoe, gone. Randy Moss, gone. Richard Seymour, gone. Adam Vinatieri, gone. Wes Welker, gone. Brandon Spikes, gone. Ty Law, gone. Adalius Thomas, gone. Lawyer Milloy, gone. Deion Branch, gone.

So why did Wilfork get to stay? In all likelihood it was no where near the crap storm the Boston media was making it to be.  When asked at the coaches meetings about Wilfork, Bill Belichick said very little but did indicate it was Wilfork who should be asked.    He even asked the reported to verify with Wilfork that he had asked for his release.  Owner Robert Kraft even said he hoped things would work out.  That didn’t sound contentious to me.

And just days later like magic it all worked out.  The Patriots got what they want, it appears Wilfork got what he wanted or at least something he felt was workable and fair and Patriots fans can breathe easier because Big Vince is back in the middle.

photo credit: getty images