Devin McCourty Re-Signs With Patriots, Another Option Down
By Luke Sims
Devin McCourty has re-signed with the New England Patriots, opting to stick around with the Super Bowl winning team he has called home for the past five seasons. McCourty was widely considered the top available free agent safety. A converted cornerback, McCourty was a gifted ballhawk and a defensive leader.
As such a valuable, proven player, the Jacksonville Jaguars were expected to pursue McCourty hard in order to shore up their secondary for the foreseeable future.
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Instead, the Jags miss out on yet another option, after
and (apparently) Ndamukong Suh earlier. The high-tier options are already disappearing, turning their noses up at potential money from the team with the largest amount of cap space and instead agreeing to big deals elsewhere.
And can you really blame McCourty?
Devin McCourty and the Patriots are coming together on a deal worth $47.5 million over five years. At nearly $10 million a year for a top notch safety, the Pats are coming away strong. Their window to win another Super Bowl is open as long as Tom Brady is playing quarterback, but players like McCourty help lock down the defense at least keeping games reasonable for Brady and not relying on him to put up 45 points a game.
The big question that the McCourty deal bring sup is whether the Patriots can still afford to retain cornerback Darrelle Revis, who is expected to be paid a whopping $20 million next year. Revis the definition of a shutdown corner and is worth every penny, but the Patriots are all times of tied up if they can’t get a deal done with the talented cornerback. While it would be shocking, the Pats could always jettison the corner before his big bonus is due on Tuesday, especially if they feel he can be replaced in some way (which, in my mind, he can’t be). It wouldn’t be the strangest move the Patriots have ever made.
Congratulations to the Patriots for bringing McCourty back, even if it is incredibly depressing for those of us who wanted to see him in black and teal.