Report: Hightower, Cannon to retire

[PatsWickedPissah]

I remember musing in the decade long desert between our 3rd SB win and our 4th-6th that "Damn, the Patriots just don't have those big game playmakers anymore like Bruschi, Harrison, etc." Then Hightower came along and was absolutely game winning pivotal in the 4th and 5th SB wins.
I'll be posting the same reminiscence when my man The Squirrel retires.

 

[n6249c]

I figured those opting out for Covid were more likely than not to lean towards retirement. especially if they’re in or even approaching the second decade of their career. Cannon very likely imho. HT the same, with just a bit of hope that his time off will have him missing the games.
although he didn’t opt out I expect this will be Squirrel’s last season. He’s taken an awful lot of punishment over the years and I thought it started to show last year. Thid year it’s even more obvious.
DMac and JMac are also getting close. Maybe another year or even two. Having them together is good, I think that’s likely to keep them both in the game longer. Wonder if JMac will be more inclined to stick around longer because he got here later.
in any event I’m sure what we see next year will look unlike this team in many ways. Thank goodness!

 

[Nikolai]

Of all the possible losses, the McCourtys would hurt the most. They're still contributing this season.

Love all the other guys, but them sitting out has let the team start the process of moving on.

Hightower, Edelman, and Devin are definitely going to get those red jackets. Chung might? JMac and Cannon, probably not. But all of these guys were key parts of one hell of an enjoyable run from 2014-2018. Whatever they do, they've got my respect and best wishes.

 

[Kontradiction]

I seriously look for that influx of new blood much like BB did before the 2001 season. Cornerback Terrell Buckley, guard Mike Compton, linebacker Bryan Cox, fullback Marc Edwards, quarterback Damon Huard, linebacker Larry Izzo, receiver David Patten, linebacker Roman Phifer, defensive end Anthony Pleasant, running back Antowain Smith, and linebacker Mike Vrabel all came in an contributed huge amounts. They are in great shape with cap next year. Even if he brings in 3-4 guys who contribute, it'll be a big year.

I have my doubts about Cam. I like the fact that we have a veteran guy here to deal with the pressures of following Tom, but I don't think he's "the guy". That's the biggest hole on this team, IMO.

NT followed shortly after QB. Then WR, TE, RT, maybe LG or C depending on what happens with Thuney and Andrews, DE, LB, CB, and FS. Lots of needs, but luckily a lot of money and good amount of picks to make a dent in those needs.

 

[Toofy]

I would say maybe get a team leader like jj watt and one nose tackle and do not spend much on qb. And add in few middling veterans with high potential and make sure you have a safe draft and continue with cam or stidham so that we have a decent draft position . If we get Zach wilson then go hyper aggressive in acquisition. If not, it might be better to go slow next year as well and shoot for 2022. Its a 2 year rebuild and we are lucky we are already in year 1. Looks like our 2019 draft is a bust like 2017 sans wino, harris and Bailey. Cajuste, froholdt, joejuan, stidham, rohrwasser, harry all are misses.

2020 fingers crossed and hopefully it pans out if the tight ends develop.

With so many departures i think we will resign joe thuney if he wishes to, so that we have an offensive leader. I don't think he might get the current market guard rates with salary cap.

Edelman, burkhead, cannon,high tower, Chung, mccourty twins, Gilmore, Slater all will be gone.

I don't think we will even be able to recognize this team. So it's important to figure out which of the rookies or sophomores on the team will be part of the core next year.

 

[woolster22]

Shouldn’t the title be “Twitter rumor” not “report”

Twitter rumors hold more merit than 99% of "reports" in the msm these days.

 

[TheRazorsEdge]

Ugh. Hurts. Bad. My fav current Patriot. One of my fav players ever. My hopes were he'd come back one more year.

Which one?

Hightower. After Brady the next cornerstone of our last 3 super bowls. Leader of the defense. 260+ lb wrecking ball... Eats olinemen for breakfast. Feasts on qbs in crunch time. If true..he will be sorely missed.

 

[Foxypats]

Good luck to both of them . I will miss them ! Hightower was always a favourite! It really feels like an end of an era .

 

[Tony2046]

Geez.

"Malcolm Go!" Doesn't happen without Hightower.

28-3 Doesn't happen without Hightower's strip sack.

Enjoy the red jacket Dont'a. Truly deserved.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

I would say maybe get a team leader like jj watt and one nose tackle and do not spend much on qb. And add in few middling veterans with high potential and make sure you have a safe draft and continue with cam or stidham so that we have a decent draft position . If we get Zach wilson then go hyper aggressive in acquisition. If not, it might be better to go slow next year as well and shoot for 2022. Its a 2 year rebuild and we are lucky we are already in year 1. Looks like our 2019 draft is a bust like 2017 sans wino, harris and Bailey. Cajuste, froholdt, joejuan, stidham, rohrwasser, harry all are misses.

2020 fingers crossed and hopefully it pans out if the tight ends develop.

With so many departures i think we will resign joe thuney if he wishes to, so that we have an offensive leader. I don't think he might get the current market guard rates with salary cap.

Edelman, burkhead, cannon,high tower, Chung, mccourty twins, Gilmore, Slater all will be gone.

I don't think we will even be able to recognize this team. So it's important to figure out which of the rookies or sophomores on the team will be part of the core next year.

I agree but I think Gilmore, and the McCourty twins will be back for one more year. After we sign JC to a long term contract and have to find a free safety and CB.

 

[DaBruinz]

We all knew Cannon was gone. Hightower is not unexpected either. Hopefully we can clear some cap and get some young talent

Why do they need to "clear some cap" when they have over 40 M AND are carrying another 20+ from this year over?

This whole "need to clear some cap" line shows who is and isn't paying attention to what's been going on with the team.

 

[borg]

I agree but I think Gilmore, and the McCourty twins will be back for one more year. After we sign JC to a long term contract and have to find a free safety and CB.

Why exactly will BB want to resign the lesser McCourty this offseason?
At some point Bill will no longer wildly overpay one to ensure the other.

 

[UGAPatsfan]

Called this in another thread. Not a surprise at all. Also think both McCourtys are gone. Chung comes back but not sure he makes the team TBH.

Bill has his work cut out for sure.

 

[Scotty]

If true then I certainly would not mind Hightower sticking around in some capacity

 

[supafly]

Honestly, at this stage of their careers, I’d rather see the team with +16m in additional cap space. That’s a ton of money right there.

As others have mentioned, it would be nice to see HT stay on in a coaching role.

 

[DarrylS]

Have thought that one of the reasons that the D has somewhat floundered this year was the absence of Hightower... with that being said, BB will probably move on from Hightower, Cannon, Edelman, Chung and possibly the McCourty bros.

Not convinced that Newton is a "keeper" yet...

Next year this team will look quite a bit different, hoping they have a "real" TC and minimally 2 exhibition games..

 

[luuked]

Considering cap limits and whkm we have at quarterback currently, 16 million for hightower for one season seems pretty excessive . So either they retire or come back at real low salaries. Logically they might be better off retiring. There has to be some core free agent signings next year to create new leaders. My guess is Trey flowers would come back next year around 8- 10 million and be one of the defensive captains.

Bill retiring after this season is not out of the question. We have a pretty big gaping hole and need to have a home run GM. Even bill would be doubting his capabilities as a GM.

Hightower's cap hit would be 12.5m not 16m. And 2.5m of that are gone either way since they are related to his signing bonus. So the question is if having the heart and soul of your front 7 back is worth 10m to which I answer a resounding big yes. Given the backups and developmental players we have at his position it really is a no brainer to me if he wants to be back.

Your Trey Flowers part also makes absolutely no sense. There is no way the Lions will cut him next year since they'd take a dead money hit of 31m. Even as a post 6/1 cut he'd not bring them any cap relief. A trade would save them 3m but it would still leave the team trading for him with a base salary of 14.3m. Which is far away from your 8-10m number.

I think you should check out some online resources like overthecap or spotrac before making clueless predictions.

And the last paragraph is the most ridiculous one of them all. Why would BB doubt his capabilities as GM ? There is no better roster builder over the last 20, 10 or even 5 year span. You don't get to 4 SBs and win 3 of them with crappy roster management.

 

[luuked]

Have thought that one of the reasons that the D has somewhat floundered this year was the absence of Hightower... with that being said, BB will probably move on from Hightower, Cannon, Edelman, Chung and possibly the McCourty bros.

I don't think BB will move on from HT, Edelman, Slater or DMac. If they are not here it will most likely be because they decide to retire. All of them have still some left in the tank and are huge veteran presences that can mentor young players and keep the culture in place while going through a transitional phase.

I originally had added Chung into that category but Dugger already looks the part more often than not. What makes it still likely that he will be on the roster going into camp is that his dead money hit is bigger than the cap hit. No reason to not keep him around at least until roster cuts to keep your options open.

 

[Soliel]

Of all the possible losses, the McCourtys would hurt the most. They're still contributing this season.

Love all the other guys, but them sitting out has let the team start the process of moving on.

Hightower, Edelman, and Devin are definitely going to get those red jackets. Chung might? JMac and Cannon, probably not. But all of these guys were key parts of one hell of an enjoyable run from 2014-2018. Whatever they do, they've got my respect and best wishes.

The squirrel gets the jacket. No vote, no discussion, just give him the red coat and let him do whatever he wants

 

[doesntmatter1]

Not really surprised. Cannon has fought through injuries for a long time and deserves the permanent break. Hightower hurts because I believe he can still get it done but I'm happy for the guy.