Devin McCourty didn’t give the New England Patriots a team-friendly deal. The safety announced he re-signed with the team on Sunday, and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported the two-year deal was worth $23 million. NFL Insider Adam Caplan suggested McCourty will make $14 million in year one.
McCourty is getting paid as the eighth-best safety in the NFL (annually), and if his cap hit is $14 million in 2020, then that will be the fifth-largest sum for a safety this season. That’s not a small investment for a Patriots team which had just $35 million (and now roughly $20 million) heading into free agency.
The Patriots still have to try to sign quarterback Tom Brady, after all. And if they’re going to do that, they’ll also have to sign a supporting cast, according to reports. After the Patriots signed McCourty and Matthew Slater, the math doesn’t add up. Even with the knowledge that their spending money would be disappearing, the Patriots made McCourty a priority. They don’t always do that with aging veterans, but clearly, the safety was an exception.
Perhaps the Patriots retained McCourty and Slater, both captains, ahead of free agency in the event of Brady’s departure. New England may want to have strong leadership in place in the locker room, in the event the team has to fill a tremendous vacancy. For that, the Patriots are willing to pay a premium. But make no mistake: McCourty has played like a premium player, too. He was among the best safeties in the NFL this year, even at 32 years old. The Patriots defense finished with the fewest yards and points per game in 2019. McCourty was a crucial member of the team.
The Patriots tend to finagle discounts out of their elite players. If that talented player wants to move on and make the big bucks elsewhere, Bill Belichick shows them the door. But in this case, Belichick seemed to make a concerted effort to keep McCourty by showing him some financial respect. That begs the question: Why hasn’t Belichick done the same with Brady?
