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stephon gilmore

Putting Malcolm Butler’s 2017 RFA Contract in Historical Context

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Not gonna lie, I’m not really enjoying the last couple weeks of the “Butler’s mad, maybe they’ll get Sherman” merry-go-round. Long gone are the days of “holy hoodie we got Brandin Cooks.” Now it seems like all anyone cares about is what’s going to happen with Butler.

For the record I love Butler. And not just for the SB49-sealing interception. I believe he’s the best young corner the Pats have had since Ty Law and I do hope that he sticks around in New England for a long time. However, with the first round RFA tender Butler is scheduled for a 652 percent raise, going from making $600K in 2016 to $3.91 million in 2017.

This would also give Butler the 9th-highest average annual salary under Belichick. So I think we need to pump the brakes a bit on how much Butler is getting screwed here. By now we know this is how the Pats do business. There’s no sentimentality, it’s all about maximizing the 1-53 roster even if some feathers get ruffled.

Let’s take a look at what the Pats have paid corners in the past and how Butler fits into it all, even on his RFA first round tender.

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Has Belichick Had a Change of Heart on Cornerbacks?

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Fun little tidbit from Ian Rapoport this morning, indicating that the Patriots made a call to the Seahawks to inquire about Richard Sherman‘s availability prior to them signing Stephon Gilmore.

This leads me to wonder if Belichick has changed the way he values cornerbacks. A couple years ago I wrote this extensive piece breaking down how the Pats have never been willing to give long-term deals to cornerbacks. Sure, they’d pay a chunk of change for a season like they did with Asante Samuel on the franchise tag ($7.79 million) or a year of Darrelle Revis ($12 million), but prior to 2012 the Patriots didn’t really seem to care all that much about the position.

Then came the in-season trade for Aqib Talib, the Patriots first foray into acquiring a physical man cornerback. They retained Talib for 2013 for $4.86 million after being unable to work out a long term deal. That felt like the same old Patriots, who always preferred to focus on the front seven long before investing in a cornerback.

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Pats Lock Up Gilmore, Harmon

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The 2017 NFL season has begun! The long path to the start of the season in underway! Rejoice!

As reported this morning, the Pats have signed Stephon Gilmore and re-signed Duron Harmon in the opening salvo of the free agency period. Both moves are surprising, not that being surprised should be surprising during this time of year.

I assumed Harmon was gone. The Pats have paid their other two top safeties, Devin McCourty and Patrick Chung, so I assumed Harmon would be the third safety casualty. Instead, the ponied up four years, $20 million for Harmon, which tells us how valuable the view that role in their defense now. Harmon usually plays only about half the snaps, but offers important flexibility to the defense. More remarkable is that they retained him despite him being somewhat of a specialist in the deep part of the field. We’ve never really even seen him play near the line of scrimmage, much less in man coverage.

Still, for a defense that saw what it was like to get beat over and over just a few short years ago, Harmon brings a level of continuity on the back end that is vital. Especially because it looks like there’s going to be some turnover at cornerback.

This one blows my mind. We’ll probably need to wait and see what happens with Malcolm Butler, but for a team that has never really splurged on free agents, much less cornerbacks, the Pats just blew any preconceived notions out of the water. Yes, they have the cap space, but I just can’t believe they’d make this kind of investment in an external player with so many internal players still dangling in the wind.

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Patriots Take Early Free Agency Aim at Secondary

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I hesitate to jump into anything before it becomes official, but the news is already flying so let’s jump in and figure out and take a look at the rumors circling the Pats as we wait for free agency to officially start at 4pm EST. Then we’ll jump into full analysis of the guys they actually do sign, but there are already signs today could be filled with fireworks.

First comes this…

Then this…

And this…


Plenty to digest here. Let’s start with Gilmore, who would fit the man coverage style the Patriots have gravitated toward in recent seasons. It’s reported that Gilmore could sign for as much as $14 million per season. Before I re-evaluate everything I believe about the Patriots and cornerbacks, I’ll wait until the actual numbers come out. The Pats are always creative at getting value even if the numbers give the player an exciting headline.

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