Logan Mankins Reportedly Ending Holdout, Will Report To New England Patriots

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen is reporting that New England Patriots offensive lineman Logan Mankins will end his holdout and report to the team upon recommendation from the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA).

Mankins is expected to show up sometime between now and November 16th.

Fellow holdout, San Diego Chargers offensive lineman Marcus McNeill reported to his team a few weeks back, and is expected to make his first start of the 2010 season this Sunday as the Chargers head to St. Louis to face the Rams.

Mankins is one of two current holdouts who have refused to sign the restricted free agent tenders given by their respective team.

The other holdout, San Diego Chargers receiver Vincent Jackson, is expected to return to his team by October 31st. Jackson will need to return three weeks earlier due to a three game suspension he must still serve.

Mankins, Jackson and McNeill were among the players caught up in the uncapped year that moved unrestricted free agency from four years to six years. Under the restricted free agent rules, the teams were able to keep the players from being contacted by other teams for new contracts. All three players refused to sign their restricted free agent tenders prior to the season, which is a requirement before they can report to the team.

By reporting by November 16th, Mankins will fulfill the requirement to become an unrestricted free agent in 2011, assuming that he and the Patriots do not come to a long term contract agreement in the meantime.

When he reports, Mankins will be playing under the one-year, $3.26 million contract tender that he has been declining since the end of the 2009 season.

"There is no way that I'm signing that thing," Mankins had told ESPN in June.

While Mankins will eventually “sign that thing,” he will likely do so at the latest possible date as an act of defiance against a Patriots organization that he has verbally slandered many times this offseason.

This is an ugly situation, so don’t expect to see Mankins back in a Patriots uniform in 2011.