TAMPA, Fla. -- The NFL playoffs began this weekend, and Logan Mankins was watching.

This is not an unusual trend, since during his long and decorated career as the mainstay of the offensive line for the New England Patriots, Mankins often had the first week of the postseason off because his team had secured a first-round bye.

The difference this time around is when the Patriots host the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday, Mankins will be watching that, too. His season is over, a demoralizing 2-14 campaign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that came to an underwhelming end amid charges of the team tanking in the final game, in which the Bucs pulled many of their starters in the second half of a 23-20 loss to the New Orleans Saints. That defeat assured Tampa Bay the No. 1 pick in the draft.

The number of near misses for the 2-14 Buccaneers was one of the most frustrating parts of Logan Mankins' first season away from the Patriots. Cliff McBride/Getty Images

The notion of tanking flies in the face of Mankins' dossier, which was predicated on toughness, resilience and, above all, continuity and professionalism.

The shocking decision by the Patriots to deal their six-time Pro Bowl guard two days before the final exhibition game left Mankins reeling. He threw some clothes in a bag and hopped a flight to Florida, reluctantly leaving behind his wife and his four children ranging in age from 4 to 14 for the entire season.

"Oh yeah, it's been hard," Mankins said in a late December interview. "It's been a long, tough year."

When New England approached Mankins about taking a pay cut from his $6.25 million salary, he knew it could signal his demise with the Patriots. In his first extensive comments since his departure, Mankins revealed he was willing to rework his salary.

"I was open to the idea," he said. "It was a just a matter of how much. We couldn't agree on that.

"What they offered wasn't good for me and what I wanted wasn't good for them.

"And you know when you don't [rework the deal], something can happen."

Mankins started every game he played for the Patriots and played an entire season on a torn ACL. He engaged in a lengthy holdout in 2010 over a contract dispute and was slapped with the franchise tag before agreeing to a six-year, $51 million deal that paid him a $20 million signing bonus in August 2011.

He understands football is a business. It was the fact the Patriots chose to trade him just before the season began that bothered him the most.

"Looking back on it now, especially in my case, the timing of it was very disappointing," Mankins said. "If it happened during free agency, that would have been a lot different.

"But the timing of how I left was the hardest part."

Mankins said he had just finished practice on Aug. 26 when he was told coach Bill Belichick wanted to see him. Mankins didn't immediately jump to conclusions.

"I get called in a lot, actually, to discuss this and that," Mankins said. "So I wasn't really sure. But when you get called in that time of year, you have to know there's a chance something is up."

The news he was being traded from a Super Bowl contender to a rebuilding team took some time to absorb, although the move was hardly unprecedented for the Patriots. Richard Seymour, also a Pro Bowl player who engaged in a contract dispute, was moved to Oakland as he approached his declining years. Wildly popular linebacker Mike Vrabel was shipped to Kansas City after he asked to rework his deal. Receiver Wes Welker tried and failed to negotiate a deal in advance of free agency and later signed with Denver.

"You can always disagree with your bosses and I did -- lots of times," Mankins said. "There were a lot of great players up there I was really sad to see go, guys like Vrabel and Welker, who were not just friends but guys who did so much for us on the field. They were guys who made sacrifices, and you wanted them on your side."

As Mankins departed, Belichick lauded him as "the best guard I've ever coached." His shocked teammates tempered their frustration per company policy, although quarterback Tom Brady found a unique way to express his solidarity by growing a bushy Mankins beard for the Week 1 game against Miami.

"That was great," Mankins said. "I talked to each one of the guys before I left, and the things they said to me meant a lot."