The Miami Dolphins set the market for top free agent cornerbacks when they signed Brent Grimes to a four-year, $32 million contract with $16 million guaranteed on Monday.
The New England Patriots will have to give Aqib Talib a similar deal if they want to lock up the All-Pro cornerback before free agency starts Tuesday. Talib “wants to be paid as a top-of-the-market corner in free agency,” a source told the Boston Herald.
Talib signed a one-year, $5 million deal last offseason that escalated to $5.5 million when he made the Pro Bowl. He was in the running for Defensive Player of the Year before he injured his hip in Week 6 against the New Orleans Saints and missed the next three games.
Talib “would appear to take something of a discount” to stay with the Patriots, according to Jeff Howe of the Herald, since the cornerback enjoyed his year and a half in New England since being traded by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Nov. 1, 2012.
The Patriots likely would be willing to give Talib more money than the other top cornerbacks on the market since he’s already comfortable with the defense and has a good rapport with the rest of the secondary.
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