Sounds like he's the one that's getting the Ninkovich-like "atta-boy" pay bump. He deserves it, he's been great in his role the last 2 years. Took some time to find his niche but he's taken it and run with it.
I know people make comments about Belichick always putting players in position to succeed. I have a slightly different theory here. He puts veterans in position to succeed - years 5+. He puts rookies in positions to succeed by (generally) slowly phasing them in and increasing their workload as they show they can handle it. For years 2-4 though, I think it's a bit different. I think Belichick expands their roles to the point that they're out of their comfort zone a lot. I think he does that thinking that players can grow their skills and move past their limitations, and there's no way to develop that if they're not actually doing it.
I think Hightower is an example of a success story on that front - kind of viewed as a better Brandon Spikes who succeeded as a rookie in 2012, he was thrust into Mayo's role in 2013 and seemed out of place and slow especially in coverage. But in 2014, he took the leap and was able to minimize those weaknesses - coverage will never be his strength, but he handles it much better. He would never have gotten to that point if he hadn't been forced out of his comfort zone and develop.
Chung is the opposite. He was a traditional strong safety / hybrid linebacker type who had some initial success in 2009 and 2010. Then Belichick tried to play him as a Tampa 2 safety in 2011 & 2012, putting him out of his comfort zone, and his coverage skills were really exposed. But unlike Hightower, he never took the leap there; in fact, things fell apart even worse in Philly in 2013. In 2014, as a 6th year player, Belichick now knew he couldn't handle it and couldn't grow into that role, so *now* he's focusing on using him just as a strong safety/ hybrid linebacker. And he's proven his worth as a real quality player in that role.
