Signs pointing to Brian Waters retiring
Waters is under contract at this time and is scheduled to earn $1.4 million. That is a reasonable salary for a starting guard, and Waters seemed to fit in nicely last season. But when Josh McDaniels was asked about Waters last week, and his return, he said he didn't have any information on that. That answer raised my antennae a bit. One factor to consider is that Waters isn't at voluntary workouts -- he didn't take part in them at Kansas City, either -- and he had mentioned the possibility of retirement after the Super Bowl. I don't have any concrete information on Waters' situation, but I just don't feel comfortable putting him in the "slam dunk, he's definitely back" category at this point.
Mike Reiss is the type of reporter that doesn't throw things out there without having a very good feeling one way or another. That's not guaranteeing that Brian Waters is going to retire this year, but it's definitely looking like that.
Waters was picked up just before the season started last year, and stepped in and contributed right away. He was seen as a team leader in the locker room, with his playbook always in hand. His solid performance on the right side of the Patriots' interior line even earned him a Pro Bowl nod.
Waters could certainly help this team, but as always, Bill Belichick has plenty of insurance. with Dan Koppen being signed back to the Pats it's likely the Patriots would fill his spot with Dan Connolly. Connolly played center last year when Koppen went down and has filled in the holes all along the Pats line, playing left guard in 2010 during Logan Mankins' holdout.
If Waters doesn't join the team, it also paves the way for undrafted rookie free-agent offensive lineman Jeremiah Warren, to make the squad. Warren signed the biggest contract of all the Pats' rookie free-agents at $18,000 ($8k guaranteed). While that's still chump change, it's an indicator of how the Pats value Warren comparatively.
Warren played tackle at South Florida but moved inside to guard.
