As first reported by his children, Devin McCourty is returning to New England for a thirteenth season with the franchise on a reported one-year deal worth $9M.
I can see the ups and downs of this move, so let’s start with the ups.
Positivley speaking, McCourty is one of, if not the top leaders of this team, he’s one of the most tenured players on the roster and certainly checks off that worry I had about if there would be enough locker room leaders to help the team forward. Alongside his duties as a captain, DMac still can still play a role on defense, in a unit which is slated to include him, Kyle Dugger, and Adrian Phillips.
The downside to this is that $9M is a fair bit for a declining veteran who we all saw slow down last season, I think this could be his final season as a pro, let’s hope it’s a good one!
In other news…
Earlier today the Patriots placed a second-round tender on Jakobi Meyers, who is a pending restricted free agent. This means If a team makes an offer for Meyers, the Patriots have a chance to match the offer, or, if they let him leave, they will receive a future second round draft pick. With a team offer for Meyers unlikely, the Patriots will retain the former undrafted pass-catcher for another season for around $3.9M.
Also reported this afternoon was the decision that the team have decided to let Fullback Jakob Johnson test out the open market, not a surprise given how much of a salary increase the lowest tender would have cost. Don’t be surprised to see Johnson back with the team next season though, especially given that the Patriots now have an international market in Germany.