Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

When New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft said Wednesday afternoon that “probably you’ll see our good friend Logan Mankins will be signed up soon, hopefully to be a Patriot for life,” he wasn’t kidding.

The guard agreed to a six-year deal with the team later in the day, a source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.

Kraft had said that the prospect of keeping Mankins long-term “couldn’t have happened if we didn’t do our planning for when we went into the lockout.”

Mankins, an All-Pro in 2010, was assigned the franchise tag by the team this season. He was set to earn $10.1 million on a one-year contract but preferred the added security of a long-term deal.

Kraft had said that he wanted to get a deal done and hoped Mankins’ camp did too, before the Sept. 20 deadline for tagged players to ink extensions.

“You can’t sign everyone you want, so you need to plan and I think we did our planning knowing the kind of environment we were (in) coming into it,” Kraft said. “We tried to position ourselves so we had our core veterans and we could continue to sign the people we want to sign. We think that Logan is among the best there is at the position. We drafted him and we want him here.”

Mankins’ desire for a long-term deal had led to a contentious relationship with the team over the past 16 months. Last season, he didn’t report to the team until the eighth game of the season, unhappy with the decision to offer him a one-year, $3.26 million tender (which was eventually cut to $1.54 million) instead of a long-term contract. Earlier in this year’s camp, though, Mankins said he saw this season as a chance to start fresh.

“This year, I’m putting everything behind me,” Mankins said at the time. “I’m going to try to have a good year and help the team, and if I play good, things will take care of themselves.”

Asked if it was encouraging to hear Mankins speak about the possibility of remaining a Patriot earlier in training camp, Kraft said Wednesday it was consistent with what he’s heard from Mankins in his seven years with the team.

WRITTEN BY Mike Reiss covers the Patriots for ESPNBoston.com.

Follow Mike Reiss on Twitter: @MikeReiss

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