Player Signing Devin McCourty resigned on 1 year deal.

[Deus Irae]

Ted Karras is signing with the Cincinnati Bengals on a three-year, $18 million contract. The Pats wanted him back - Belichick even recruited - but money talks and Karras heads to Cincinnati.

The Patriots approached Karras about an extension before the Combine. Belichick reached out, too. Karras wanted to test the open market. Per source - the Pats initial offer was three years for $15 million, but then lowered this week to three years for $13 million.

Big misread by BB, if true.

 

[sb1]

Karras loss is going to hurt.

Bengals really trying to protect Burrow and rightfully so.

 

[Deus Irae]

I'm not sure which move is worse for the Patriots.

ok

 

[JackBauer]

I'm not sure which move is worse for the Patriots.

Why would Slater being back be a bad move for the Patriots?

 

[Sicilian]

Why would Slater being back be a bad move for the Patriots?

Some routinely underestimate the importance of special teams, while also vastly overestimating how restrictive a $2-3m cap hit is.

 

[crawhammer]

Why would Slater being back be a bad move for the Patriots?

I was sort of kidding. Karras is going to hurt. Slater's not going to impact the outcome of any games so his money could have been better spent elsewhere... for instance if they had added $2.6 mil to their original offer to Karras then perhaps we could have retained a player who actually makes a difference on the field, which to my understanding is where games are won or lost, on the field, not in the locker room or during the coin flip.

 

[PScottman]

The team wasn't competitive in 2020, it's not even debatable,

Not debatable? To those that only want to hear and crow about how much the Patriots suck I guess maybe you're right.

 

[Boomer B]

Like the leadership DMac brings but we need speed on D and he is getting slower, not faster. 1 more year and then we need to get someone younger/faster.

 

[Brotherblues]

Losing Jackson and retaining McCourty makes them worse... Jackson is a far more impactful player than McCourty.

You can't seriously argue the pass defense wasn't a problem by the end of the season. The last two games against Josh Allen, the secondary got destroyed... 51-72 (71%), 622, 8 TDs & 0 INT. Right, the run defense needs to be fixed, but you also need DBs who can cover and tackle in pass defense.

Keep in mind DMC was gonna cost them 4.3M in cap space to *not* play for them. Getting him on the field by just tacking on 2M to that cap hit is a win.

Now, do they still need help? Absolutely. The D was atrocious against good competition in half-decent weather, but that wasn't on McCourty. Most of the blame there is on the front 7. And also the way Josh Allen's eyes lit up with stars in them whenever he spotted Myles Bryant on the field...

 

[captain stone]

Worth every ****ing cent.

That was Then; this is Now.

 

[captain stone]

Why would Slater being back be a bad move for the Patriots?

Because he doesn’t actually, you know, do anything on the field?

 

[Huckleberry1]

Good move. They are going to have to focus on CB, so stability at Safety makes sense.And it’s a reasonable deal.

 

[ashley]

 

[Hammer of Thor]

Interesting, the void years were extended by 2 more years. Mike listed the cap charge but I wonder if if that includes his prior contract too? Very interested to see Miguel do the math on this one - how his void charge will look in 2023 if he retires then?

My best guess from this — $500k in other bonuses is LTBE, and so the math works out to get $5.25m in cap charges when you include the prior contract (1.25m base, 1.35 signing bonus over 5 years, 0.5 other bonus, 2.15m from prior signing bonus). The other 500k in NLTBE. If he doesn’t reach those incentives, that means $8.5m in total new money. $3.1m in new money counts this year ($1.25m base, $1.35 signing, 0.5 other bonus). So $5.4m is deferred from this new deal. Then there’s the existing $4.3m in deferred bonus from the prior contract. This would make his dead money $9.7m in 2023 if he’s done or leaves. Ouch. Hope i’m missing something here….

 

[Sciz]

Interesting, the void years were extended by 2 more years. Mike listed the cap charge but I wonder if if that includes his prior contract too? Very interested to see Miguel do the math on this one - how his void charge will look in 2023 if he retires then?

Yes, the $5.75M cap hit includes his previous signing bonus proration. There will be $9.7M left to hit the cap after this season. If he chooses to retire next offseason then I'd expect them to delay that until after June 1 so it can hit the cap as $3.5M in 2023 and $6.2M in 2024.

 

[ralmat55]

And to think DaBruinz accused me of pulling “figures out of my butt” Sunday evening when I guesstimated McCourty’s cap hit would be $5.88 million. Just think how close I would have been if I had pulled the figures out of my head instead.

Where’s my apology?

 

[ashley]

And to think DaBruinz accused me of pulling “figures out of my butt” Sunday evening when I guesstimated McCourty’s cap hit would be $5.88 million. Just think how close I would have been if I had pulled the figures out of my head instead.

Where’s my apology?

Good job Kenneth!!

 

[JackBauer]

Because he doesn’t actually, you know, do anything on the field?

OK captain hyperbole

 

[JarOfMayo51]

Losing Jackson and retaining McCourty makes them worse... Jackson is a far more impactful player than McCourty.

You can't seriously argue the pass defense wasn't a problem by the end of the season. The last two games against Josh Allen, the secondary got destroyed... 51-72 (71%), 622, 8 TDs & 0 INT. Right, the run defense needs to be fixed, but you also need DBs who can cover and tackle in pass defense.

You know JC Jackson was playing in the same secondary against the Bill's that McCourty was, right?