Official Free Agency 2018

Jason McCourty is a solid #2 corner, so Rowe, I think, will be battling with J Jones/??? for #3. I doubt the Pats would have spent 3m on McCourty to put him on the bench.

 

I think that McCourty will start. However, I'm 100% fine with $3M for a backup CB who can start if needed. To put it another way, if I were pretty sure that Rowe or Jones would start, and that both would on the field in the nickel, then I still would have signed McCourty. The position is worth the money. We may be able to extend McCourty for 2019 when both Rowe and Jones are free agents. McCourty would be needed in case of an injury; after all, Jones is coming back from an injury).

All that being said, I expect McCourty to compete and win the starting position.

 

I have high hopes for JMac. He's been the number one corner in this league so expecting him to be our 2 is reasonable.

I think J Jones is very good in the slot and I like Rowe as kind of a specialist for specific match ups.

 

It seems to me that Shelton ends up being less expensive, even if the Pats pick up his 5th-year option.

 

I’m telling you, this guy is a beast. Can’t find my old post on him. He’s a meme among my buds from fantasy football but he’d take Hill/Gillislee to the woodshed. Adam Seward at RB.

For real, ran well behind one of the worst OLs in football & didn’t play a lot despite being their best RB the last 2 years.

 

Oh man, I just started a thread on this.

 

DARKWA

Fairly productive RB at Tulane, 2010-2013 (4 seasons, 46 games)...
... 663/2953, 39 TD rushing ... 77/595 receiving
... 8/150 punt returns as freshman in 2010 (none since)

Measurables:
... 5110/212 (roughly Gillislee/Burkhead size), turned 26 on Feb. 28th
... 4.46/40 1.59/10yd .. 15 reps .. 37.5 vj/124 lj .. 4.29 ss/6.90 3c (pro day)
-----
Signed as a UDFA by MIA in 2014. Played in 4 games before being waived to their PS. NYG poached Darkwa from the MIA PS about halfway thru the 2014 season.

Stats:
(MIA -> NYG)
2014 - 11g ... 9/23, 1 TD rushing ... 5/6, 48 yds (9.6) receiving

NYG
2015 - 16g ... 36/153, 1 TD rushing ... 3/5, 31 yds receiving
2016 - 10g ... 30/111, 2 TD rushing ... 2/4, 12 yds receiving
... missed final 6 games with a calf injury
... ERFA at end of 2016, re-sign at $1.1M for 2017
2017 15g ... 171/751 (4.4), 5 TD rushing ... 19/28, 116 yds receiving
... local NY beat writers projected him to receive offers around 3-yrs/$9M

INJURIES:
lost several games to an ankle injury his junior season at Tulane (2012)
missed 2016 OTAs with fractured tibia
missed final 6 games in 2016 with calf injury

 

Lions sign QB Matt Cassel, add depth behind Matthew Stafford

 

Since March 10th, the Patriots have added nine experienced NFL players to the roster for a maximum potential 2018 cap hit of less than $19M.

 

McCourty was the #1 corner in the nfl?

 

He's not even the #1 corner in his family...

 

Again??

 

Dude is a real dual threat. He's violated both the league’s substance-abuse policy and the league’s performance-enhancing substance policy more than once. An equal opportunity violator. He's done like yesterday's dinner.

 

He's down for anything, evidently.

 

While I agree with your general opinion that McCourty will likely make the team, the reality is that the Pats have given him nothing more than a 350k roster bonus that kicked in the day after he signed.

He has a zero dead cap hit, and would save the team almost 3m dollars if he doesn’t make the squad. He’s in the same boat as guys like Cordarelle Patterson, Jordan Matthews, Eric Rowe, Mike Gilleslee, Dwayne Allen, Philip Dorsett, Geno Grissom, etc. Any of them can easily be cut with absolutely no dead cap hit.

 

Dez?

Bedard: Two moves that would take Patriots' offseason from solid to stunning | Boston Sports Journal