The New England Patriots have been notorious for the way they handle players on their team when it comes time to pay them big money.
Lawyer Milloy was one of many players who was deemed expendable by Bill Belichick, the way things unfolded left him “disgusted” at the time.
Back in 2003, Milloy was 4-time pro bowl safety but soon found himself in an uncomfortable situation just a week before the season was set to begin.
After declining to take a pay cut, the captain was released and left scrambling to find a new team.
“I think I went to my fourth Pro Bowl in five years and then I was given an ultimatum: either take a pay cut or leave it,” Milloy said Monday on WEEI’s “Ordway, Merloni and Fauria.”
“That was up to discussion. I had good representation with Carl Poston and went the whole offseason — the last time I talked to Bill was in June right before the veteran (time) when you can go out and seek another team and we had a discussion. He said basically, ‘the worst-case scenario is you play out this year and we have to re-visit it after the season.’
“So me and my representation were in agreement with that and the Friday after the last preseason game he pulled me into the office and gives me the same ultimatum: I have until Monday to think about it. Guys get released or have these situations come up all the time, it was just the way he handled it, trying to wait until the Monday before the first game, which really disgusted me.”
Milloy was set to make $4.5 million that year with 4 years left on his deal. He would then sign with the Buffalo Bills and helped the team shut out the Patriots 31-0 four days later in the season opener.
Belichick said Milloy was “the hardest player that I have had to release” and “the hardest situation that I’ve had to go through like this, here or anywhere else.” Looking back on it nearly 17 years later, Milloy said he understands the business side of it, if not the way it was handled.
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“It took me awhile to even mention the Patriots the way it went down,” said Milloy, who added he has since been welcomed back “with open arms [by] Belichick.”
“I think he has changed over the years. He’s I guess willing to have the small talk kind of conversations, he’s smiling a little bit more — maybe it is the young girlfriend he has now, but everything kind of lined up for me to go back.”
