Left tackle Nate Solder is in the final season of his rookie contract, and he addressed that situation today for the first time this offseason.
"I would love to stay," Solder said. "God will provide other than that. Who knows what will happen? My approach with that, too, is just to do the best I can while I'm here."
Solder will earn a fully guaranteed $7.438 million this season under the terms of his fifth-year option bonus as a 2011 first-round draft pick. It's certainly possible Solder and the Patriots could work out an extension at any point to chop down that 2015 cap hit, or to simply prevent him from reaching free agency in March.