THE SIDELINES : Morgan, Patriots in Pay Dispute

Veteran wide receiver Stanley Morgan, a starter since he joined the New England Patriots in 1977, said the NFL club wants to slash his salary, and he indicated that he may not be with the team next season.

“I just isn’t fair,” Morgan said in an interview with the Boston Globe from his home in Memphis. “For all the years I’ve put in, for everything I have given that organization, it was a blow in the face. To ask someone to take that kind of pay cut just isn’t fair.”

Morgan made $600,000 last season. He said the team wants to cut his salary “almost in half.”

The 13-year veteran and four-time Pro Bowl player also said the Patriots want to relegate him to a backup position. He said he believes that he can still be a starter, and that while the team has given him permission to talk with other clubs, they won’t release him.

Patriots general manager Patrick Sullivan told the Boston Herald that a “number of players on this team are anointed starters. Stanley is not in that group. Given the makeup of this team, we’re not looking at Stanley as a full-time player right now.”