McCourty to stay with Patriots!

[BradyManny]

And if the Pats are in that $14/MM ball park, even $16MM isn't going get the Jets Revis back.

BTW- I doubt very much even the Jets are that crazy.

Understood Ken, I see your point now.

 

[chasa]

Can we talk for a second about how BB has drafted so many good defensive players we now need to talk about how its going to be hard to retain them all?

Collins, Hightower, Chandler Jones, McCourty.

Add to that the pieces he's been able to bring in Revis, Ayers, Branch.

It's crazy.

 

[upstater1]

Can we talk for a second about how BB has drafted so many good defensive players we now need to talk about how its going to be hard to retain them all?

Collins, Hightower, Chandler Jones, McCourty.

Add to that the pieces he's been able to bring in Revis, Ayers, Branch.

It's crazy.

Hightower and Jones are coming up soon. By the time Collins comes up though, I expect there will be some movement in the Revis contract, Mayo too, and the cap will rise. There are for sure a lot of decisions to make. Unfortunately, when Brady retires in 3 years, the Patriots can't expect a huge salary cap reduction. Backups/starters like Garoppolo are now making $5-6 a season.

 

[mayoclinic]

DMac's signing is a good example of the Pats strategy of NOT bidding against themselves. Although it would seem very risky to allow their key FA's to essentially get to FA (the legal tampering period is pretty much the first step into the FA period.). I believe the Pats found quickly found out that McCourty's market price was higher than they expected. My guess they put a price in the range of $8-8.5zMM/yr on him. Once they got a look at the market they upped that offer, and McCourty took it, even though he reportedly left some money on the table from other teams.

The Pats made their offer close enough to the market so that it was easier for McCourty make the "right" decision. For some players money isn't the only consideration in a contract negotiation. When considering the Pats the negatives are you probably won't get the last dollar, and they will work your ass off. But the positives are you will get to play in a great atmosphere, and locker room, improve your game with great coaching, and win. Most of the time, whatever dollars you loose in your contract, you can make up long term in playoff payouts, and off the field financial considerations.

Now as the focus turn to Revis, I expect a similar pattern to emerge. However I wonder if the competitive market for Revis will be a vigorous as DMac's. How many teams are willing to overpay (over $1hMM+/yr) for a 30 year old, albeit elite, CB. I don't think there are too many. In fact the reports are only the Jets seem ready to pull that trigger.

If that's the case, I'm also pretty sure that the Pats' best offer is going to be similar to the Sherman contract at $14MM/yr. I also think that will be enough to bring Revis back when he considers all the other positives resigning here will bring to his brand.

It should also be noted that while the Pats rarely pay "top dollar" they are usually "in the ball park" with their offers.

Good post, Ken.

I'm not surprised that the market is higher than expected for McCourty. I would have tagged him and then negotiated, and was hoping for a deal in the $8-8.5M range. I thought the market for him would be strong, and it apparently was. I'm glad the Pats were able to up their offer to stay competitive enough.

I think that it's generally not a bad strategy to let players "test the waters" and see what the market is. Players seem to value the ability to go through this process. In some cases the market over-values guys and they leave (Aqib Talib), but in other cases you are able to re-sign players long term for a fairly reasonable amount (Julian Edelman). McCourty apparently wanted $9M/year, so it's possible that he might not have come for much cheaper even if he had been tagged. Letting players test the market avoids potential acrimony, and lets them decide what is really important to them.

I think Darrelle Revis wants to do the same thing, but I don't think money is nearly as much of a driving force as some people think. He's always wanted to be highly paid, and he will be. But there's a big difference between holding out in 2010 coming off a DPOY award when he was due to be paid $1M on his rookie deal, and saying that he will automatically go to the highest bidder in FA. The only time Revis has ever been a FA was in 2014, and he choose the Pats - reportedly at less money than he could have gotten elsewhere. I think that - as with McCourty - as long as the Pats are able to put together a competitive offer and are "in the ball park", he will be back. And I fully expect that to occur.

 

[patchick]

Have to be honest and i think Kraft has wised up and stepped into the modern era when it comes to big time FA

"Wised up?" Can you name a single Patriots draftee who performed at a very high level and DIDN'T get a big-$$ second contract during the entire period of Bob Kraft's ownership?

 

[OhExaulted1]

"You're right, Mike! Overpaid! Bad deal Mike!" = tomorrow on 98.5 afternoon drive. Sorry for the spoilers.

Those 2 are insufferably perdicatable, aren't they?

 

[patsfaninpa]

"Wised up?" Can you name a single Patriots draftee who performed at a very high level and DIDN'T get a big-$$ second contract during the entire period of Bob Kraft's ownership?

I consider Deion Branch and Asante Samuel draftees who performed at a very high level. Made the correct move in both cases. They got overpaid in free market. We end up getting Welker for way less than Branch a year later. Never really replaced Asante. He was overpaid though.

 

[patriot lifer]

So we get McCourty through the decade....niiice

 

[Froob]

Wow people really jumping the boat here. Does ANYBODY have a real source? Who is this Devin McCourty guy who reported the signing and is he credible?

 

[patchick]

I consider Deion Branch and Asante Samuel draftees who performed at a very high level. Made the correct move in both cases. They got overpaid in free market. We end up getting Welker for way less than Branch a year later. Never really replaced Asante. He was overpaid though.

Yeah, the Branch situation was a holdout DURING his first contract. IMO both sides would like to have a do-over on that one. (Can you believe it's been 9 years since then?) Asante did play a second "contract" under the franchise tag. He might be the closest to an example, but IMO also a lesser talent than Wilfork, Mayo, Gronk, DMac etc.

 

[Kdo5]

Those 2 are insufferably perdicatable, aren't they?

They'll play nice today, though they see McCourty as overrated. It's if they lose Revis that Felgy will whip out his "no excuse" narrative all the way through the regular season.

 

[sambam94]

now Ian Logue is saying it might be revis or browner, but maybe not both? First I heard this

 

[kennyb]

Given your track record, a coin flip would be worth more.

yeah? what's my track record?

 

[patchick]

McCourty apparently wanted $9M/year, so it's possible that he might not have come for much cheaper even if he had been tagged.

...and if they hadn't been able to work out a long-term deal, that $9M in 2015 cap dollars would have really hamstrung the team. Tagging Gost made the most sense to me. Glad to see everything falling in place so far.

 

[mayoclinic]

I consider Deion Branch and Asante Samuel draftees who performed at a very high level. Made the correct move in both cases. They got overpaid in free market. We end up getting Welker for way less than Branch a year later. Never really replaced Asante. He was overpaid though.

Asante was way overpaid, and it was the correct decision, as you note. With Branch, the Pats did put together an offer that was certainly in the ballpark of what he eventually got from the Seahawks, so it's not like they didn't try. He was also still under contract, so it was a slightly different situation.

Neither was at the level of a Gronk, Mayo, Mankins, Wilfork or McCourty, IMO. All those guys got paid handsomely on their 2nd deals.

 

[Galeb]

yeah? what's my track record?

 

[JayNM]

Wow people really jumping the boat here. Does ANYBODY have a real source? Who is this Devin McCourty guy who reported the signing and is he credible?

It's already confirmed. 5years, 47.5M 28.5 Guaranteed

 

[Calhoun44]

This is great news.
The nice thing about this legal "tampering" period is that teams that still have negotiating rights (like the Patriots with McCourty), will have a sense of what to offer before the player starts making those "recruiting"visits to other teams facilities. And because it is legal "tampering" the numbers can be released to the press without any fear of punishment from the league.

 

[Froob]

It's already confirmed. 5years, 47.5M 28.5 Guaranteed

t'was a joke

 

[Froob]

This is great news.
The nice thing about this legal "tampering" period is that teams that still have negotiating rights (like the Patriots with McCourty), will have a sense of what to offer before the player starts making those "recruiting"visits to other teams facilities. And because it is legal "tampering" the numbers can be released to the press without any fear of punishment from the league.

My understanding was you could only get a feel from the player what they wanted and it was technically against the rules to offer them a deal. So not sure how the Eagles have gotten away with signing 3 players.