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

[RobertWeathers]

What can he do better than high? Is he better in coverage?

Decent in coverage. Think Jerod Mayo but not as good.

 

[BadMoFo]

Jason Wolf?Verified account @JasonWolf 31m31 minutes ago
Former #Patriots ILB Dont'a Hightower, a Marshall County grad, is weighing options. No deal imminent, per source. #Titans @zeus30hightower

Tough choice. It's either makes tons of money and continue competing for Super Bowls or make tons of money and go home.

 

[Love The Drake]

In New england hes a hall of famer potentially.
In Tenn hes really good.
We know he hates the weather and may feel some way about Logan Ryan and Butlers situation and we know how he felt about Jones and Collims situation.

 

[PatriotsPimp136]

It's gonna suck if he leaves he's a big leader in this defense.

 

[Gronkowski123]

go to the titans and become irrelevant!

 

[Gronkowski123]

I bet they move on Zach Brown very quickly

the country singer?

 

[Dorito Dink]

It's gonna suck if he leaves he's a big leader in this defense.

are you a bot, bro? It looks like you've scripted your system to post the same thing with slightly different variations every 7 minutes.

 

[PatriotsPimp136]

are you a bot, bro? It looks like you've scripted your system to post the same thing with slightly different variations every 7 minutes.

Relax my friend. I just didn't picture us losing all these guys. It's not a done deal yet but we have seen the pats move on from big time players.

 

[Dorito Dink]

Relax my friend. I just didn't picture us losing all these guys. It's not a done deal yet but we have seen the pats move on from big time players.

And the significant majority of the time it works out in the Pats favor. You have to put emotion aside and understand that BB/NC have a plan. They have a proven formula that they've stuck to for 15+ years. It works. Trust the system.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Jason Wolf?Verified account @JasonWolf 31m31 minutes ago
Former #Patriots ILB Dont'a Hightower, a Marshall County grad, is weighing options. No deal imminent, per source. #Titans @zeus30hightower

Good, the one thing that would've worried me is he lands in Tennessee, they put the full court press on him, and convince him to sign without taking the offer back to the Pats. As long as he's taking his time and giving us a chance to make our case, I consider that a good sign.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

Mentally preparing for him to leave so I won't go on a rant if he leaves....but going home after winning 2...can defiantly see it

 

[Ring 6]

Relax my friend. I just didn't picture us losing all these guys. It's not a done deal yet but we have seen the pats move on from big time players.

Check out the starting defense from SB 49 and look at how many big time players were gone by the time SB 51 happened and the defense played better.

 

[JMC00]

Good, the one thing that would've worried me is he lands in Tennessee, they put the full court press on him, and convince him to sign without taking the offer back to the Pats. As long as he's taking his time and giving us a chance to make our case, I consider that a good sign.

Hightower has been in Tennessee since probably a few days after the SB. He lives in Nashville (or at least close to it), actually just got done building a house there. Titans have had every opportunity to have him visit in the last 2 days and apparently haven't. Just makes me think they aren't as interested in him as people have made it out to be. I mean they signed Logan Ryan to a 3 year/$30m deal. If Hightower was a huge priority for them I think they would have gotten it done. I mean look at how quick Gilmore became a Pats player. Seems to me Titans if they gave him an offer might have been lower than the Pats and Ed Werder claims they were out on him at $10m-$13m, report is Pats offered him $10m per before the season. Seems to me like the Titans low balled him and are banking on the fact that he is a Tennessee native.

 

[FoxboroFlyer]

Don't suppose Kendricks from Philly would be an option, if he leaves.
To undersized?

 

[Love The Drake]

For me if not High after Zack Brown huge drop off

 

[JMC00]

Tough choice. It's either makes tons of money and continue competing for Super Bowls or make tons of money and go home.

If Tennessee was offering tons of money (or at least significantly more than the Pats) he would have signed with them already.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Hightower has been in Tennessee since probably a few days after the SB. He lives in Nashville (or at least close to it), actually just got done building a house there. Titans have had every opportunity to have him visit in the last 2 days and apparently haven't. Just makes me think they aren't as interested in him as people have made it out to be. I mean they signed Logan Ryan to a 3 year/$30m deal. If Hightower was a huge priority for them I think they would have gotten it done. I mean look at how quick Gilmore became a Pats player. Seems to me Titans if they gave him an offer might have been lower than the Pats and Ed Werder claims they were out on him at $10m-$13m, report is Pats offered him $10m per before the season. Seems to me like the Titans low balled him and are banking on the fact that he is a Tennessee native.

I'm not even totally sure that offer is a lowball. I think a lot of teams will look at Hightower's role in the Pats' defense and will question if that's something they can reliably replicate. Hightower's one elite skill is run-stopping, and run-stopping LBs don't exactly command a premium. Otherwise, his main value is in his versatility, that he can generate interior rush as a LB, get on the line and rush from the edge, can cover credibly, etc. That's what makes him a three-down LB. If you insist on playing him as a standard mike, he could a two-down LB in the next few years, and nobody in their right mind will pay a two-down run-stopper elite money. You can only be sure he'll remain a three-down guy if you're willing to get creative and find ways to use his abilities as a pass rusher, and coordinators with rigid schemes may not be eager to do that. When **** LeBeau looks at that skillset, I'm not sure he sees a guy who will produce in his system in a way that justifies more than $10M per year, because LeBeau probably has a pretty good idea of what he wants his LBs to do, and probably values Hightower to the extent that Hightower can fit into his existing system (which he can, you're just leaving some of his versatility, and therefore some of his value, on the shelf).

All along, I figured Hightower would stay here because, of all the Pats' defensive stars that were hitting FA this year, he's the one for him his value to the Pats most exceeded his general value to any other team. He's too unique, and not really an archetypal player at his position, which I figured would likely depress his value a bit to everyone on the outside, creating a situation where the Pats' perception of what he was worth to them would be significantly higher than anyone else's. Of course, I also thought he would've been extended before this season and it never would've got to this point, so I've been wrong at pretty much every step of the way.

 

[JMC00]

For me if not High after Zack Brown huge drop off

DeAndre Levy. Ya injury questions the last 2 years but if he is healthy he can play.

 

[BradyFTW!]

What can he do better than high? Is he better in coverage?

He has more range than Hightower, definitely better in coverage. He's a liability against the run and won't get after the QB like Hightower can, though. Basically, his best skill is also Hightower's worst. In every other respect, Hightower is miles better.

 

[patfanken]

So I'm the end the Pats are not going to resign any of
Hightower
Collins
Jones
Butler

This can't suck enough

Ted, its like you don't even read any of the comments that don't match your opinion.

Jones has been gone for a year. Collins hasn't been with a team that went 12-1 and won a superbowl AFTER he left. Butler isn't going anywhere (this season), and Hightower is checking out FA like we all have know for months now. And he's finding out that no one is going to throw absurd money at an ILB with 65 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 0 picks, and one FF, no matter what he did in the Superbowl. Elandon Roberts with half the snaps had 45. Tavon Freakin' Wilson had 70 What's the problem?