A Patriots Football Weekly story posted on the New England Patriots Web site reports that the team had declined to use its franchise tag on kicker Adam Vinatieri or any other player before today's 4 p.m. deadline.

That means Vinatieri, wide receiver David Givens and the team's other unrestricted free agents will become free agents unless they agree to contracts before March 3.

Journal sports writer Tom Curran reported today that the team wasn't likely to use the francise tag on Vinatieri because it would have required them to pay the Super Bowl-winning kicker $3.01 million.