Hightower will not be given the tag, now a free agent

[ALP]

it matters quite a lot actually

EDIT: If you have been paying attention over the years, none of this has anything to do with whether you have other money left over. It is about not ever breaking your "rules" of not over paying.. It does not matter if they have 1 trillion in cap space.. they break their system by doing it.

if your "rules" don't account for an increasing cap so that you never get to the 90% cap usage threshhold, your rules are out of date...

 

[luuked]

I was hoping Hightower would be one of the anchors of the new "dynasty". I don't like this either, but I do think he is gone partly because BB does not believe in having that much of the cap tied up in one player. The thing I don't get though is he gave McCourty a big deal with a cap hit over 10mil. I agreed with that too. I thought Hightower would be the other one.

And you were most probably also one of those that were saying goodbye to DMac throughout the eve of FA 2 years ago until suddenly he did get a last-minute extension.

There is more than enough time to draw up a deal with Hightower in the same style as with DMac once the true market value is apparent. Like @patfanken said right now it's a battle of projected values between the two parties with a gap that is too wide to compromise on.

 

[luuked]

HT may not be gone, but if he is it is because BB chose to pay Butler. And that was the right choice - #1 CBs do not grow on trees - and the league has huge WR talent. BB really seems to be fond of Butler - I think he likes his motor and drive. And he never causes any tumult on the team.

Nope. Butler has nothing to do with Hightower, as Ryan has nothing to do with Harmon. Only amateurs budget like that.

By the way, the bolded part could have been written about most of our players but especially also Hightower. It's not a coincidence which locker he got assigned.

They maintained status quo (and lost Charles). Nothing to improve. Denver will get a QB and KC will be lucky to make playoffs next year.

Denver is a year or so away from a meltdown into a classic 10-6 team. I am not particularly concerned about them.

With the speed to run down Freeman in the SB, there is no reason this man cannot cover. He will learn. You cannot teach motor - and Roberts has this in spades.

If athletic ability is all that it takes you'd see a ****ton of cover LBs in the NFL. I think you (and many others) are under appreciating how steep of a learning curve it is to be good in coverage as a LB in the NFL. Shazier is close to the prototypical LB and he was garbage in coverage for the majority of the first two years in the league. It takes a while to develop coverage ability at that level and it's not about athleticsm.

 

[luuked]

That doesn't matter. I just outlined my point that we easily have the cap space to give butler and Hightower nice contracts while still having plenty of money left.

You just outlined why so many other teams suck. You assign value to players and stick to that. Once you start overpaying some others will also want that and all of it falls apart.

I don't agree with that. Patriots gave Marcus Cannon a top 3 OL salary in NFL. Gave McCourty a record deal. Gave Hernandez a record deal. Gave gronkowski a monster deal. Gave mayo a top Lb deal. Gave Seymour and Mankins deals after they held out.

We have broken the "system" before and overpaid for players we really like

At no point was Cannon a top 3 OL salary player.

And none of the players you mentioned were overpaid when they got their extensions. You have record deals every season because that's how it works with an ever-increasing salary cap. Brown is the record WR signing since a few days ago, and in a bit more than a week Jeffrey will have the new record among WRs.

I am not sure you know what overpaying means..

 

[luuked]

if your "rules" don't account for an increasing cap so that you never get to the 90% cap usage threshhold, your rules are out of date...

Except they do account for an increasing cap. But you have system in place that gives you the flexibility of bringing in players during the season (Ayers, Hicks, KVN...) in addition to being able to have more quality depth than other teams.

You never overpay just one player and if you do it, it sets a precedent for future negotiations.

Finally, BB/Caserio have played Brady's willingness to keep his number around what they feel is the max they want to pay in general perfectly. He is the ultimate negotiating strategy for them.

Seems like their rules have served them pretty well over BB's reign.

 

[RayRay]

So u have NO questions as to how they spend the $60 million + they have under the cap?

Trust me, I hate this move and a lot of the previous moves we've done in past years like trading Chandler Jones last off season and Jamie Collins mid way through this one.
I even questioned letting Revis go. (Thank God we did)
And I am a firm believer that offense wins regular seasons but defense wins championships but they always seem to figure it out don't they??

 

[slash83]

I mean its hard to question moves that BB makes but man losing HT would suck. The same was said about losing Jones and Collins but HT is a different animal, this guy is the heart of the Defense, that's hard to replace.

 

[bormio]

If athletic ability is all that it takes you'd see a ****ton of cover LBs in the NFL. I think you (and many others) are under appreciating how steep of a learning curve it is to be good in coverage as a LB in the NFL. Shazier is close to the prototypical LB and he was garbage in coverage for the majority of the first two years in the league. It takes a while to develop coverage ability at that level and it's not about athleticsm.

I agree with this. Roberts is not good in coverage NOW, but he has the speed and motor to get there. Yes, it will take time, but he has the physical abilities needed to be able to do it. If you do not have those, all the learning in the world will not help. BTW, I agree that Denver may be in decline. But KC is going down faster - I will be surprised if they make the playoffs this year.

 

[1960Pats]

1 championship ....... 47 phucking years ago ...... almost as long ago as the New Jersey Jets

The SB wins by the Jets and Chiefs were two of my favorite non-Pats football moments. I still like the Chiefs but the Jets have since erased any of that sentiment.

 

[slash83]

Schefter thinks HT ends up back in NE, but will see so take it for what it's worth.

 

[zoostation]

Schefter thinks HT ends up back in NE, but will see so take it for what it's worth.

I hope he's right.... but it's now a roll of the dice. A team like the Titans could offer crazy money that's too hard for him to walk away from. Someone will be willing to severely overpay him and you cannot blame him for taking the big $

 

[Huckleberry1]

I'm still hoping Hightower will return but I realize a team could blow him away with a big offer. Hopefully he's back but either way this is going to be a fascinating offseason with many changes coming on this team Belichick has never had anything close to 70 million to work with and while I don't expect any big signings outside of Hightower and Butler I think we could see him build a really deep really strong roster with middle tier releases and free agents.

 

[Ring 6]

I honestly think your wrong. Hightower is not as good as Von Miller. HT is a good all around player but Miller is the best pass rusher in the game today.

There is no chance in hell that HT gets Von Miller money. 0% chance. I have seen HT get after the QB but he isn't Von Miller.

I am confident in my analysis of the player over yours so there is nothing more for us to discuss.

 

[mosslost]

What is any of this based on?

facts and quotes

 

[mosslost]

Honestly I don't think this is going to be a 3/4 Super Bowls for the Pats. We have to rebuild / replace a lot of spots. They need DE, OLB, ILB, S, possibly C.. and maybe TE.. like I said several months ago this is going to be a very active off season.

If we stick with Brady we don't have time to spend 2 or 3 years rebuilding our roster.

Well they could pull of a 2001 type championship.. and 11-5 type record.. etc. The AFC is not going to be strong this year. I think we will be right in the mix.

 

[mosslost]

if your "rules" don't account for an increasing cap so that you never get to the 90% cap usage threshhold, your rules are out of date...

who ever said he is not adjusting? Of course he is. You think a TE like Gronk would make 7 Mill a year in 2001? No. Of course not. The Pats are adjust for inflation. He is just never ever going to pay someone as the highest paid player, and will not over pay players, and in facts wants to come up with ways so that you are a little bit lower than what you can get. (I.e. You WANT to be a Patriot)

Sorry, but those are his rules.

 

[mosslost]

And you were most probably also one of those that were saying goodbye to DMac throughout the eve of FA 2 years ago until suddenly he did get a last-minute extension.

There is more than enough time to draw up a deal with Hightower in the same style as with DMac once the true market value is apparent. Like @patfanken said right now it's a battle of projected values between the two parties with a gap that is too wide to compromise on.

I hope you are right very much.

 

[Ring 6]

Schefter thinks HT ends up back in NE, but will see so take it for what it's worth.

Not tagging him could indicate a strong relationship, respect for the player and the player agreeing to giving the team the chance to match any offer.

It could also mean the team thinks he isn't worth the tag cost too though.

 

[Ring 6]

Honestly I don't think this is going to be a 3/4 Super Bowls for the Pats. We have to rebuild / replace a lot of spots. They need DE, OLB, ILB, S, possibly C.. and maybe TE.. like I said several months ago this is going to be a very active off season.

If we stick with Brady we don't have time to spend 2 or 3 years rebuilding our roster.

There we go. Less than 4 weeks after winning the SB the negativity begins.
And we haven't even lost a player yet.

 

[Ring 6]

Respectfully, I disagree. Von Miller is more explosive coming off the edge but he's a one trick pony. Admittedly, he's magnificent at what he does but IMO, Hightower is a far more rounded Linebacker. He can do a little of everything well and that interchangeability is a rare commodity in the NFL.

Hightower could do millers job, miller couldn't do hightowers.