I heard Hightower hated the cold. I get it; I moved from Maine (too cold) to Arizona (too hot) to northern California. I used to get seasonal depression during the winter months; maybe he/his family wanted a warmer climate and wanted to get closer to their home in the south, or at least I believe that's the case since he grew up in Tennessee and then went to Alabama. When I saw he was visiting the Titans, Dolphins, and had a meeting scheduled with the Saints, I thought, "good for him if that's what he wants."
Then there was the notion that he's trying to get the best contract possible, another one where all I can say is "happy hunting." I never blame athletes for taking more money, and for every city that is mad the person left, there is a new city that welcomes them. The NFL is a business, so as fans, deal with it. The Patriots could have franchised/extended him, and they took on the risk to get him cheaper this last year.
...but then, it isn't really about the money anymore, right? According to everyone on the inside, he is just not seeing the type of over-the-top deal he was hoping for.
And now...he is in the cold northeast meeting with teams that are (a) the Patriots biggest, most hated rival/doormat, and (b) the Patriots biggest AFC competitor...mind you, two teams who don't have a lot of cap room and don't even appear to be in the market for him besides their potential glee in screwing over the Patriots. The Jets are in complete cap hell with a roster full of replacement scabs from the strike season and not nearly enough money, while Hightower isn't even a great scheme fit there. The Steelers, schematically might make some sense, but they are never a big player in free agency, and they are already dealing with internal extensions and cap issues...I highly doubt they are going to blow him away with a huge offer. Both the Jets and Steelers appear to fall into the "we had absolutely no plans to sign this guy, but now that he appears to be wandering around the country aimlessly looking for a job, let's bring him in" category. We have seen other rivals make surprise runs at our players - notably Denver with Talib and Welker, or unsurprising runs, like the Jets with Revis, and those have always been full court presses with a huge offer coming out before free agency even officially begins, or outright tampering. This does not appear to be the case right now.
In conclusion, I just don't get it...I don't see how anyone can feel like Hightower really wants to return to the Patriots at this point. He may end up back here, yes, but this whole thing seems very strange...if he ends up signing elsewhere for roughly the same amount of money, or maybe just a little bit more, the story would make more sense than if he comes back. The idea that he is just making sure he has done his due diligence with other teams seems far-fetched. I can't recall another free agent of his caliber with multiple big offers on the table who has taken this long to make a decision. Every other guy in his situation has been off the board for almost a week and probably made their decision long before that.
