Eventually, Wilfork would get his answer.

Just not before being tagged.

Back in January, Wilfork said he'd take the franchise designation like "a slap in the face". But when it came down, he'd come to a better understanding of how the Patriots were using it -- to extend their exclusive-negotiating window, rather than keep him around for one more year.

His natural reaction? Of course he was upset. But ...

"That only lasted a quick five minutes, and we got on the phone after that and they were like, 'Look, we put the tag on because we needed some more time to come up with a long-term deal,'" Wilfork said. "When they put the tag on and let us know what it was on for, it was fine, because that showed me that they were very comfortable in negotiating towards a long-term deal and we were comfortable with it too.

"It wasn't overnight, it was a process, it took while for us to reach a deal, but you know what? We finally reached one, and we can move on."