No extension for Pats’ Thuney
Guard will play year on franchise tag rate
The deal with Joe Thuney, is there’s no deal.
The Patriots left guard, who was hit with the franchise tag on March 16, and signed the tender almost immediately, will play on the one-year, $14.781 million salary assigned.
The two sides weren’t able to agree on a multi-year extension before Wednesday’s 4 p.m. deadline.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise. Only a few of the 14 players who were tagged by their respective teams — Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones and Titans running back Derrick Henry — got contract extensions. Given the uncertainty about salary cap in years to come, with expected revenue losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many teams weren’t willing to commit to high-paying salaries down the road.
Retaining Thuney, even if it’s only for the year, is beneficial to the Patriots. With a new quarterback taking over the Patriots huddle this season after the departure of Tom Brady, the importance of the offensive line becomes magnified.
Whether it’s Cam Newton or Jarrett Stidham, passblocking will be essential. Establishing the run game with good blocking up front is important. Having Thuney, along with the rest of the starters, allows the Patriots to keep one of the NFL’s best starting lines intact for the transition from Brady.
Thuney has been the line’s best and most consistent performer since his arrival in 2016. So keeping him in the fold at least for another year helps the Patriots.
The offensive lineman now has the second-highest cap charge on the team behind Stephon Gilmore ($18.6 million). Thuney’s salary, combined with Shaq Mason (five-year, $50 million extension in 2018), gives the Patriots the highest guard payroll in the NFL.
Thuney will become an unrestricted free agent next season. It made sense for him to play on the tag, and then see if he can land a favorable long-term deal on the open market. He gets the big pay day now, with hopes of more security down the road.
Uncertainty with pandemic
Several Patriots players took to social media Monday to express doubts and skepticism about the NFL being able to conduct a season during a global pandemic.
Cornerback Jonathan Jones started a string of tweets with this: “I don’t know who needs to hear this but you can’t social distance football”
Linebacker Dont’a Hightower followed: “Ain’t no way.”
Safety Patrick Chung agreed with his teammates: “Not a damn shot. They are trippin.”
During the past few weeks, the McCourty brothers have also offered similar views. On Monday, Devin and Jason wrote in a Monday Morning Quarterback piece about not even having a set date for training camp as of yet, while also wondering about their options.
“Will we have an option to opt out of the season? Will we be making our full salary? What if there is a COVID outbreak within the league?” they wrote. “It’s so hard to make a decision of whether we will play or not without knowing what the exact plan is…
“Will we be able to have meetings in the building? Or will the meetings still be done virtually? Will testing be a few times a week or will it be every day? As players, how do we decide what is best for us and our families when we don’t know what we’re walking into?”