All quiet on Hightower front or Dont'a-do-it FA tour

[PatriotsPimp136]

So if we brung zach brown in for a visit would hightower be butthurt about it?

 

[JMC00]

 

[KDPPatsfan85]

Us patriots fans waiting for Hightower to resign...

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Who/what is PFCentral, anyways?

 

[mariomega]

So if we brung zach brown in for a visit would hightower be butthurt about it?

It would be funny if Bill offered like 11m per year to ZB, just for the sake of trolling.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

How different could all of these offers be? Which ever one he takes he'll be taken care of for life so why try to collect every last nickel?

Ego? Frustration, maybe?

Or it could be the hope that a team will be dumb enough to reset the market higher than it is? Perhaps he was expecting the Patriots to get into a bidding war?

Just my 2 cents

 

[Froob]

Who/what is PFCentral, anyways?

Tempted to make a page called RealNFLRumors or something and see if people retweet ****.

 

[BobDigital]

Just a random question. IDK if I am the only one who feels this way but Hightower is one of the few Patriots (if he resigns here) who will be a Patriots nearly all of his career. He has made clutch plays in 2 super bowls and been a leader on the team.

All that said am I alone in feeling he doesn't give off that "Patriot" vibe and won't be particularly fondly remembered? It is odd cause I remember guys like Bruschi, McGinest, Wilfork and think he should belong in that kind of group by many rights. We are in the mist of super bowl run #2 and it feels like Hightower is somehow being left out of that group of "true patriots" though he has done a lot to contribute to our victories.

Is this just a me thing?

 

[Tuck]

Thats all well and good but what's the player going to do when the team says "Our offer's good until you leave our facility. Take it or leave it."

 

[BradyFTW!]

How different could all of these offers be? Which ever one he takes he'll be taken care of for life so why try to collect every last nickel. I have no sympathy for him at this point.

Personally, I've never been the type to turn down a raise, so I do get it. He wants to make as much money as he can make. If it turns out that the market for him isn't there like he thought it was, then he can come back and sign for what the Pats were offering. If there is more of a market for him, he can make millions of dollars more, all for the cost of doing a few extra days of traveling and work in the offseason.

 

[varjao]

The strange thing is that it sounds like the Patriots have the best offer on the table and no one is beating it. Imo pride is playing a big role in this, I'm guessing he was expecting 60+ for 5 and the Patriots went 40 for 4, and no one else wants to go for 5. That's a huge cut on his expectations and I'm sure it is taking some getting used to. Pity loves linebackers but they just tagged Bell and paid huge money to Brown so I have a hard time seeing them being high bidder for Hightower. However if they are close he could give the Patriots both middle fingers and sign.

Bang on. For months he thought the $10m per was a slap in the face and then he was convinced of it when Collins got his deal. Yet then FA happened and he realized the Pats were right about his market. Which obviously hurt his pride and his pride won't let him at this point accept that the Pats were right about his market because he still thinks he's worth more, hence why he is taking visits. Sorry but top FA aren't taking visits 8 days into FA, Dude just needs to accept that the Pats value him the most and their deal is probably gonna be the best deal he gets.

Agree with both POV and you know what, that may sound absurd but I think BB is kind of controlling the market or at least having some influence on it. That BB is always on the better side of a trade involving picks or players it's a fact, but he is doing so well on FA in recent years, before the season and in season signings, that GM's must be thinking twice like "if that dude Belichick is not paying him 12Mi per season I'm ain't doing that as well".

I really thought Hightower's baseline was at least 12Mi APY with teams being conservative due to his injuries or that would be 14 easily, in my poor estimation, but it turns out BB was right all along, or he set the market in 10, at this point I don't doubt this guy has this kind of influence. It's been always reported that BB has a value for every player in the league and knows the market inside and out.

BB offers Bennett 7 Mi APY, Bennett wants more and think he is worth 9. Signs with the Packers for a little less than 7 and he is lucky the Packers had a need for a TE otherwise he would be playing for a sorry ass franchise. He is still playing for a winning franchise with a top flight QB but don't tell me playing in that end of the world Wisconsin is a better market than Boston for a guy who wanted to be in a big market for his personal projects.

Hightower thinks he is worth I don't know how much, more than Collins let's say, because a dumb team overpaid for Collins services, that didn't change BB's baseline and now Hightower fell flat on his face and is butthurt.

Not to mention Welker, Revis and other examples.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Thats all well and good but what's the player going to do when the team says "Our offer's good until you leave our facility. Take it or leave it."

Call their bluff, probably. We're like a week into FA, anyone trying bs pressure tactics like that should and will be told to go pound sand.

Same general principle as buying a car, really. If the salesman tries to start throwing high pressure tactics at you, you just tell him to **** off and walk out the door. He'll either cut the crap and stop you... or he won't, but in either case nothing of value is lost.

 

[PittPatriot]

@varjao @JMC00 @Ivan
One thing we all agree on is that the Patriots have a better understanding of the market and seem to have as strong a prediction model as any time in any sport. Amazing.
If BB ran an investment firm, I'd put everything I could in his hands.

 

[Ring 6]

Says the guy who was so sure there would be at least 5 teams willing to pay him 14-15m per.

Please show me where I said that.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Just a random question. IDK if I am the only one who feels this way but Hightower is one of the few Patriots (if he resigns here) who will be a Patriots nearly all of his career. He has made clutch plays in 2 super bowls and been a leader on the team.

All that said am I alone in feeling he doesn't give off that "Patriot" vibe and won't be particularly fondly remembered? It is odd cause I remember guys like Bruschi, McGinest, Wilfork and think he should belong in that kind of group by many rights. We are in the mist of super bowl run #2 and it feels like Hightower is somehow being left out of that group of "true patriots" though he has done a lot to contribute to our victories.

Is this just a me thing?

McGinest left over money. Wilfork and the NEP had a big-time war over $ in 2009 and eventually left in 2014 and hes as "Patriot" as you can get. Jules did the FA circuit. Tom was under contract in 2005 and 2010 but apparently tensions were high over bonus payouts. Troy Brown shopped around.

I wouldn't get caught up in the thinking that the "real" Patriots stick around and take discounts. It happens to all of them in one way or another

 

[PatriotsPimp136]

@varjao @JMC00 @Ivan
One thing we all agree on is that the Patriots have a better understanding of the market and seem to have as strong a prediction model as any time in any sport. Amazing.
If BB ran an investment firm, I'd put everything I could in his hands.

Well i wish they had waited out on marty.

Has cook signed yet?

 

[PatsBoy12]

I'm not interested anymore. Let me know when he signs with anybody at this point.

 

[PatriotsPimp136]

Agree with both POV and you know what, that may sound absurd but I think BB is kind of controlling the market or at least having some influence on it. That BB is always on the better side of a trade involving picks or players it's a fact, but he is doing so well on FA in recent years, before the season and in season signings, that GM's must be thinking twice like "if that dude Belichick is not paying him 12Mi per season I'm ain't doing that as well".

I really thought Hightower's baseline was at least 12Mi APY with teams being conservative due to his injuries or that would be 14 easily, in my poor estimation, but it turns out BB was right all along, or he set the market in 10, at this point I don't doubt this guy has this kind of influence. It's been always reported that BB has a value for every player in the league and knows the market inside and out.

BB offers Bennett 7 Mi APY, Bennett wants more and think he is worth 9. Signs with the Packers for a little less than 7 and he is lucky the Packers had a need for a TE otherwise he would be playing for a sorry ass franchise. He is still playing for a winning franchise with a top flight QB but don't tell me playing in that end of the world Wisconsin is a better market than Boston for a guy who wanted to be in a big market for his personal projects.

Hightower thinks he is worth I don't know how much, more than Collins let's say, because a dumb team overpaid for Collins services, that didn't change BB's baseline and now Hightower fell flat on his face and is butthurt.

Not to mention Welker, Revis and other examples.

Maybe high feel's he's better than collins but injuries are a concern and i thought his season could have been better. He did make one of the biggest plays in the superbowl. I am curious to know how many times we send hightower to go after the QB. I feel he could be effective doing it. I don't know if bill does it enough.

 

[BobDigital]

McGinest left over money. Wilfork and the NEP had a big-time war over $ in 2009 and eventually left in 2014 and hes as "Patriot" as you can get. Jules did the FA circuit. Tom was under contract in 2005 and 2010 but apparently tensions were high over bonus payouts. Troy Brown shopped around.

I wouldn't get caught up in the thinking that the "real" Patriots stick around and take discounts. It happens to all of them in one way or another

I am aware of all that and remember all that. It is not even just about sticking around. I just get the feeling Hightower hasn't bought in like those players did when here. Even if he resigns here I almost feel like he has a mercenary mentality and just is looking to punch the time card more than soak in the culture if that makes it more clear. Nothing wrong with that. Just wondering if anyone else felt that way.

 

[yopats]

From Tom Curran's latest article...

Hightower’s not going to have his spot given away like Welker did. But disillusioned by the process and perhaps pissed that the Patriots didn’t get him done before this unfolded, it’s getting easier to envision this not ending well. With a perception from other teams that Hightower is bound to return to the Patriots he might -- like Adam Vinatieri did more than a decade ago -- leave just to prove he will.