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

[BradyFTW!]

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

I think Levy and Brown are both a little undersized for what the Pats like to do with their LBs, but talented enough that I'm sure Belichick could make it work if he thought he could get them at a good price and was inclined to do it.

 

[BradyFTW!]

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?

I agree with your first point, but let's not even suggest that Hightower's tackles are even a semi-legitimate indicator, in any way, of what he brings to the table. He's right up there with McCourty and Butler for overall value to the defense.

 

[Deus Irae]

Just something which might have some relevance:

Dolphins signing Lawrence Timmons to a 2-year, $12 millions deal including $11 million guaranteed, per sources.

 

[strngplyr]

Adam Schefter?Verified account @AdamSchefter 1m1 minute ago
Dolphins signing Lawrence Timmons to a 2-year, $12 millions deal including $11 million guaranteed, per sources.


Dolphins had interest in HT.

HT is 4 years younger, but market for LB's who aren't edge rushers isn't very strong.

 

[Love The Drake]

Money wont be a issue here if High wants to go back home no stopping him.
Have Gilmore and Hogan call Zack Brown for us.

 

[ViperGTS]

I hope he comes back for 10 per. That's what the Pats offered him and that's is about what's he is worth. Maybe 11. Be ironic if that's what he signs for.

 

[patfanken]

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. 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.

Pretty much right on the money, Brady. Plus add the fact that the Titan GM learned his craft right here in NE. He understands the reality of fact that High has only played in 75% of the team's games in the last 3 years. He knows he only played in 67% of the teams snaps last season and had 114 players have more tackles than he did. He also understands the upside of Hightower on his team.

On the other hand IIRC he now has around 20MM/yr tied up in his 2 CB's. Can he afford ANOTHER 10+MM contract on his defense? btw I don't anything about their cap situation

Tennessee is a REAL possibility to sign Hightower. It is as close to his home town as any NFL franchise can be. But I think there will be a few teams (the Pats among them) that will pay him in the 11-12MM range, but they will want some protection against the times he isn't on the field. That just makes sense. So in the end it is likely to come down to who gives him the most guaranteed money that isn't injury dependent. (if money is all that matters)

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

 

[mikey m]

If he signs with Tenn in the next 5 minutes I blame you

 

[BradyFTW!]

Pretty much right on the money, Brady. Plus add the fact that the Titan GM learned his craft right here in NE. He understands the reality of fact that High has only played in 75% of the team's games in the last 3 years. He knows he only played in 67% of the teams snaps last season and had 114 players have more tackles than he did. He also understands the upside of Hightower on his team.

On the other hand IIRC he now has around 20MM/yr tied up in his 2 CB's. Can he afford ANOTHER 10+MM contract on his defense? btw I don't anything about their cap situation

Tennessee is a REAL possibility to sign Hightower. It is as close to his home town as any NFL franchise can be. But I think there will be a few teams (the Pats among them) that will pay him in the 11-12MM range, but they will want some protection against the times he isn't on the field. That just makes sense. So in the end it is likely to come down to who gives him the most guaranteed money that isn't injury dependent. (if money is all that matters)

Yeah, I think you're right on re: where the Pats value him. I think the $10M they offered before the season was "if you sign this year, you can have extra security in return for a slight market discount", with his value to the Pats actually being in the $11-12M range. I think Hightower and his agent, OTOH, saw the $12.5M AAV on Kuechly's contract and, with the cap going up $10M+ this year and lack of top-tier FA talent, figured that would be the starting point and that the market for him would end up being in the $13-14M range.

If it turns out that it was Hightower and his agent that misevaluated the market, which appears to be the case, I'll become optimistic about our chances at keeping him in a hurry, and the Pats have the built-in ability to offer an extra million per year or so that will let him save face, so to speak, and have something to show for playing out the last year of his deal. I know that shouldn't be important to a purely rational actor, but these guys have a lot of pride and that's always been a big factor in contract negotiations.

Also, for whatever it's worth, I'm not especially worried about Hightower's games missed and snap count. I think that's already priced into ILB salaries, and is why we're talking in the range of $10-13M rather than $15-17M. Only the best and most versatile of them play anything approaching every down, and pretty much all of them regularly miss games. If you go down the list of all the best non-edge rusher LBs, they all deal with the same sorts of wear and tear that Hightower does. Kuechly, Collins, Davis, Bowman, Marshall, Trevathan, Johnson, Shazier, Mosley, etc. Bobby Wagner's the closest I can find to an exception, and even he missed 5 games in 2014.

 

[PatriotsPimp136]

If the difference in guaranteed money's not far off then he doesn't wanna be here.

 

[patfanken]

I agree with your first point, but let's not even suggest that Hightower's tackles are even a semi-legitimate indicator, in any way, of what he brings to the table. He's right up there with McCourty and Butler for overall value to the defense.

overall value to OUR team maybe because of his intangable qualities he brings to the defense. But do you really believe that they couldn't replace his actual production numbers?

That bar wasn't set very high (no pun intended ). As an undersized rookie Elandon Roberts had 45 in 271 snaps. Hightower had 65 in 708. In your OP that I commented on you stated that Hightower's 2 greatest assets were his run stopping ability, and his versatility. I don't disagree, but the numbers do. And I get it, sometimes the numbers lie. That's why I would give him the $12MM deal he wants as long as I got back some protection against him not being on the field. So that part of the deal would give him incentives for how many games he plays each season, or snaps or something to that effect.

This all goes back to the original point I made and that is Hightower has more value to the Pats than any other team, because we know best how to use him, and you are right, he would be good wherever he goes, but he could be great here.

 

[patfanken]

Just something which might have some relevance:

Yeah, he would have been my top choice as a Hightower replacement. No longer an impact LB, but a solid player and a decent signing by the phins.

 

[AtomicDawg]

 

[Ring 6]

Pretty much right on the money, Brady. Plus add the fact that the Titan GM learned his craft right here in NE. He understands the reality of fact that High has only played in 75% of the team's games in the last 3 years.

hightower has played in 45 of 56 games which is more than 75% including 100% of the 8 playoff games that WR won 7 of.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

Update on Hightower to Titans.

 

[AtomicDawg]

Update on Hightower to Titans.

Ooooh yes. And:

 

[Gronkowski123]

So close!!

 

[shmessy]

Paul Kuharsky

?@PaulKuharskyNFL
Hearing it would be wise to tamp down expectations of Dont'a Hightower to the Titans. http://es.pn/2mRdodb

4:17 PM - 10 Mar 2017

 

[Kdo5]

Would be pure bliss if we get HT back. As for Malcolm I think we should probably keep him considering the departure of Logan Ryan. Though I was on board with a trade for Cooks.