McCourty

[cdumler7]

Here are some options for the Patriots if Revis and McCourty don't resign.....

Replace Revis with Malcolm Butler. He's actually better than Revis covering a downfield receiver and proved it in the Playoffs and the Super Bowl. Draft a CB to start learning the Patriots system to replace Browner.

Replace McCourty with Logan Ryan. Ryan is bigger and faster than McCourty and has played all three CB positions. Converting him to FS would be a breeze. His hands and angle reads are exceptional. Playing 30 yards off the line of scrimmage would be perfect for him.

Not resigning these two would give the Patriots approx. $25M in cap space. Redo Wilfork and Mayo and save another $10M. Now grab the best free agent OG available.

Losing Revis and McCourty will give the Patriots at worst two extra 3rd round picks next year in the draft. They could possibly be 2nd round picks depending on the contracts they get.

Highest comp picks you can get is a 3rd round pick. So it can't be a 2nd. Next Revis does not qualify for a Comp pick because you guys would be cutting him. Only players that are actual true FA's count for the Comp picks. Throw in I don't know that McCourty actually would be a 3rd round comp pick. The reason I say that is they usually only give out 5 at most for the 3rd round and looking at the players that will hit FA this year there are going to be 5 guys that get paid more than McCourty on the open market. Suh, Cobb, possibly Maclin, Julius Thomas, and Jerry Hughes are all guys I can see getting bigger contracts than him. Plus then it depends what the Patriots do to replace him. If they go out and sign a FA at the same position then it really hurts their chances of getting a comp pick for him. They would have to depend on in house replacement if they are thinking of getting a draft pick.

 

[Art Vandelay]

Here are some options for the Patriots if Revis and McCourty don't resign.....

Replace Revis with Malcolm Butler. He's actually better than Revis covering a downfield receiver and proved it in the Playoffs and the Super Bowl. Draft a CB to start learning the Patriots system to replace Browner.

Replace McCourty with Logan Ryan. Ryan is bigger and faster than McCourty and has played all three CB positions. Converting him to FS would be a breeze. His hands and angle reads are exceptional. Playing 30 yards off the line of scrimmage would be perfect for him.

Not resigning these two would give the Patriots approx. $25M in cap space. Redo Wilfork and Mayo and save another $10M. Now grab the best free agent OG available.

Losing Revis and McCourty will give the Patriots at worst two extra 3rd round picks next year in the draft. They could possibly be 2nd round picks depending on the contracts they get.

McCourty can be replaced. I'm not saying I would be happy to see him go because he is a good player, but if another team wants to break the bank for him, then I would wish him well and move on. I love what Butler did in the Super Bowl, but let's kid ourselves; he is not Revis, and he never will be. Given what I've read, which, admittedly, is only speculation, I think Revis will restructure his deal. His mentor is Ty Law, who admitted he regretted leaving the Pats. I don't expect him to take a substantial discount as Brady did given that Tom feels loyalty to the team/coach/owner who gave him the opportunity to become what he is (plus, he's married to a billionaire super model). However, I suspect that Revis may take a bit less to remain a Pat. Exactly how much less remains to be seen.

 

[cdumler7]

Here are some options for the Patriots if Revis and McCourty don't resign.....

Replace Revis with Malcolm Butler. He's actually better than Revis covering a downfield receiver and proved it in the Playoffs and the Super Bowl. Draft a CB to start learning the Patriots system to replace Browner.

Replace McCourty with Logan Ryan. Ryan is bigger and faster than McCourty and has played all three CB positions. Converting him to FS would be a breeze. His hands and angle reads are exceptional. Playing 30 yards off the line of scrimmage would be perfect for him.

Not resigning these two would give the Patriots approx. $25M in cap space. Redo Wilfork and Mayo and save another $10M. Now grab the best free agent OG available.

Losing Revis and McCourty will give the Patriots at worst two extra 3rd round picks next year in the draft. They could possibly be 2nd round picks depending on the contracts they get.

Butler a better guy covering guys down field than Revis? Now I know some of this is just coping with the idea of possibly losing Revis but come on he is one of the top-3 Corners in the NFL for a reason. There is a reason that some team is going to be willing to pay him $14 million or more a year. Butler shows some promise of course but a player like Revis doesn't just grow on trees. Same with McCourty. While Ryan might have some great physical tools to be able to make the switch and can play at a decent level you are talking about replacing an All-Pro player and saying that it will be a breeze. It just is not as simple as you make it sound. There will be some ability on the field lost if you lose McCourty and Revis. Now yes it does free up some cap space so maybe other positions can be updated a little better. To me it comes down to can you feel comfortable with Ryan and Butler replacing the two of them and feel like you are still going to get some decent play out of them while at the same time see another position where there just isn't a player that is of quality production that the money could go more towards?

 

[Art Vandelay]

Butler a better guy covering guys down field than Revis? Now I know some of this is just coping with the idea of possibly losing Revis but come on he is one of the top-3 Corners in the NFL for a reason. There is a reason that some team is going to be willing to pay him $14 million or more a year. Butler shows some promise of course but a player like Revis doesn't just grow on trees. Same with McCourty. While Ryan might have some great physical tools to be able to make the switch and can play at a decent level you are talking about replacing an All-Pro player and saying that it will be a breeze. It just is not as simple as you make it sound. There will be some ability on the field lost if you lose McCourty and Revis. Now yes it does free up some cap space so maybe other positions can be updated a little better. To me it comes down to can you feel comfortable with Ryan and Butler replacing the two of them and feel like you are still going to get some decent play out of them while at the same time see another position where there just isn't a player that is of quality production that the money could go more towards?

I think Ryan can replace McCourty at a similar level. Perhaps not quite as good, but close enough if another team offers McCourty a huge contract. Revis is not nearly as replaceable. The thing about Revis right now, though, is that he is not an FA. Yes, his salary cap number for next season is untenable, but as of now, he is the exclusive property of the Patriots and they have the ability to exclusively negotiate with him. That's bit of a different situation.

 

[NWPATSFAN]

I certainley hope the Pats find a way to keep Revis. I could swallow losing DMC easier. Beside we need to get Logan away from having to cover anyone on the outside. I'm tired of watching him get burnt.

 

[CreepCreep2014]

I think Revis is back. I think NE can throw a huge bonus to him that will make him happy. They have to spend that cash everyone is talking about. Revis made DMC a better players, and I am sure he can do the same to Ryan. I still think DMC is going to get a ton of money to leave NE and they will not match. Philly is another team I expect to make a huge run at him now. I can see him in Oak with that young def. Until NE does anything we will have no idea where they are heading.

 

[cdumler7]

I think Ryan can replace McCourty at a similar level. Perhaps not quite as good, but close enough if another team offers McCourty a huge contract. Revis is not nearly as replaceable. The thing about Revis right now, though, is that he is not an FA. Yes, his salary cap number for next season is untenable, but as of now, he is the exclusive property of the Patriots and they have the ability to exclusively negotiate with him. That's bit of a different situation.

We shall see. A player is an All-Pro for a reason. I don't think it is as easy as some of you are trying to make it sound. Athletic ability does not just translate to being able to play a position. Throw in switching from Corner to Safety is a transition. Heck the Broncos are trying to do it right now with replacing one of their safeties with one of our corners. While I do think he will find success I also understand that it will take some time for him to transition to such a change.

Now as for Revis you are right technically he still belongs to you guys and you have 5 days to continue to negotiate with him before there is a good chance that you guys decide to cut him. If I remember right his $20 million salary kicks in on March 9th. We shall see what happens there. I'm thinking the Patriots try to keep at least 1 of these two players. Not very often that a team lets 2 All-Pro players go in a single off season.

 

[BigKen]

From this morning's Boston Globe.....

Shalise Manza YoungGlobe Staff March 04, 2015



After five years as a member of the Patriots, Devin McCourty is getting a firsthand taste of what the business of the NFL is all about.

The safety is on the verge of becoming a free agent — barring a last-minute deal from the Patriots — and he’s excited for the opportunity.

“My mom keeps telling me this whole time, ‘You’re not going to play football for that long, you have to take advantage of every opportunity that comes along,’ ” said McCourty Tuesday night. “Having a twin brother [Jason, a cornerback for the Titans] that wasn’t a free agent — he signed an extension with Tennessee — it’s an exciting time for both of us, and really my whole family.”

Free agency does not officially start until March 10 at 4 p.m., though the three-day “legal tampering” period, when other teams can negotiate with potential free agents, begins Saturday at 4 p.m.

Although he was not given the franchise tag by the Patriots, McCourty said the move didn’t surprise him as much as it may have surprised others. He said he still wants to return to New England, and feels the Patriots want him back as well.

“Now I have the ability to go to any team, and to me, that includes the Patriots, that includes any team that shows interest,” McCourty said. “I want to be back, and they want me back, too, but it comes down to the business of everything, and being a free agent, I have the chance to see what other teams are saying, too.”

Given that he will be the best safety on the market, McCourty figures to draw plenty of interest.

New England’s first-round draft pick in 2010 was famously panned by some draft observers who believed the Rutgers standout would be a special teams ace but not a star defensive player. McCourty silenced the doubters by being named a Pro Bowler and second-team All-Pro as a rookie.

He did struggle on the field in his second season, but McCourty never let it get to him, always with his face in his iPad, watching film and trying to get better. Off the field, he had been named a captain and was quickly establishing himself as the quintessential Bill Belichick-era Patriot: smart, versatile, a great teammate, and someone who always did his job.

Those qualities were underscored midway through the 2012 season, when he served as the team’s primary kickoff returner and he was also forced to play safety after the Patriots were hit with a spate of injuries in the secondary. But there he blossomed, able to see the whole field in front of him, and able to communicate with his teammates to get them in the best position.

It also wasn’t an accident that when New England acquired malcontent Aqib Talib in 2012, lockers were shuffled to put him next to McCourty, who could not only help with the playbook but teach him how things are done at Gillette Stadium.

A full-time starter at safety beginning in 2013, McCourty joined a short list of players named All-Pro at both corner and safety when he was named to the second team after the 2013 season.

But this past season, the last of his rookie contract, even as Belichick said in September, “If we had more players like Devin McCourty . . . but we’re lucky to have one. He’d be a hard guy to replace,” there were no serious talks of an extension between the Patriots and McCourty’s agents.

When the 2014 season ended with the Patriots winning Super Bowl XLIX but without a new deal in place, the reality that McCourty might have played his last game for New England began to sink in.

“To me, right when the season ended, even though they still had time no other team could talk to me, and making it through the season and not having an extension, you have to know as a player you might not be there,” he said.

“It’s tough when you play somewhere for five years, I played a lot of football there, I have people hitting me up, ‘How can you think that?’ But to me I’d be a fool to get all the way through the season and not think about I could be somewhere else.

“I’ve been thinking that for the past month, that I could be on another team.”

McCourty knows not every team will be interested in signing him, but he’s also confident there are several that will. If Jason McCourty has any say in it, the Titans will be one of those clubs. Devin acknowledged the two dream of playing together again one day, but it also has to be a situation that’s the best fit.

“Now I have the choice of whatever team says, ‘We want you to come play for us,’ so to me, as a player, you can’t ask for a better situation to have than that,” he said.

“[Andy Simms, one of his agents] keeps telling me to keep an open mind to everything, not think about what team has this, what team has that, just being open to see what team wants me. A team that looks good on paper might not want my services.

“I’m just trying to keep an open mind and see what is best for me as I continue my career.”

After 88 games (including playoffs) and 88 starts, 339 tackles, 18 interceptions, 4 straight AFC Championship appearances, and two Super Bowl appearances, the win in Super Bowl XLIX may have been McCourty’s last as a Patriot.

“If that was the last game, then what a way to go out,” he said.

. . .

Ray Ventrone, oft-released as a defensive back/special-teamer in his four years in New England, was hired as assistant special teams coach. Ventrone replaces Joe Judge, who bumped up to take over as special teams coach when Scott O’Brien retired.

 

[TxHeat]

Devin should take a lesson from his brother, that playing on a shit team is not really the way to go.

 

[redseat]

I am preparing it now to say both will be gone because we all know how the Patriots operate.

 

[Southieinnc]

I am preparing it now to say both will be gone because we all know how the Patriots operate.

Though certainly a possibility, I don't think that is where we are headed.

 

[redseat]

Though certainly a possibility, I don't think that is where we are headed.

Welp, I was wrong about McCourty.... Which I am very happy to be wrong about. Now what does this mean for Revis?