Pats should ink these in-house free agents
Four must-sign players of 25 lapsed contracts
Welcome to the Patriots’ road to rebuilding!
This week, we’ll unveil five steps the Pats can take to return to contention. Today’s step deals with the Patriots’ in-house free agents.
With a list of 25 impending free agents, who should be kept?
Let’s whittle the list down to a handful, and keep it simple.
With the exception of Cam Newton, the priorities should be resigning the four other captains on the list, David Andrews, Lawrence Guy, James White and Jason McCourty. At the very least, that’s the place to start.
They need to be re-signed, and the primary reason isn’t necessarily stat-based.
Together with Matthew Slater and Devin McCourty, these four are the veteran leaders on the team, along with Dont’a Hightower and Patrick Chung, if they choose to return after opting out in 2020.
With the expected turnover and having a greater reliance on youth, it’s still important to keep as many guys with championship rings as possible to maintain a link with the past, especially their winning past.
After the first losing season in 20 years, it’s imperative the group still buys in with the Bill Belichick Way, and having as many players in the locker room who have won with the Patriots head coach is important.
Andrews, Guy, White and McCourty still have the credentials to deliver Belichick’s message, and have others buy in.
Beyond that, many of them add to the Patriots on-field success.
Let’s start with Andrews, the veteran center. With a new quarterback, which is the expectation, it becomes even more vital to re-sign him.
The Patriots initially brought Andrews in as an undrafted rookie out of Georgia, and he’s been a mainstay at center, and such an important member on the offensive line. He’s been a part of two championship teams.
Judging by his emotional last meeting with the media, it sounds like he wants to stay and remain a Patriot. Andrews said New England has been “special” to him. Well, he’s also been special for the Patriots.
The top centers in the NFL currently make between $10 million and $12 million annually. Andrews’ lapsing contract paid him an average of $3 million per season. The Patriots should try to find a middle ground. Keeping Andrews is that important.
Guy?
He’s another player who’s been impactful both on the field, as well as in the community. He also expressed a desire to stay.
“I’d love to return to New England,” Guy said during a recent video conference. “I laid roots already here, so if I’m able to do that, that would be amazing.”
Guy turns 31 in March. He’s been their best player on a defensive line that needs to be restocked, and reloaded. His positional flexibility across the line has been valuable to Belichick. It would be in the future, as well.
The average annual value of Guy’s contract is $3.8 million. He’s certainly not in the same stratosphere as Aaron Donald ($22.5 million annually), the top money man at the position, but he more than deserves a raise.
And he might be open to a below-market deal, considering his age and desire to remain. Then, there’s White.
He’s entering free agency for the first time in his career. He had an off-year for him (49 receptions for 375 yards and 35 carries for 121 yards) but at 28, still has plenty left in the tank.
“I’m still very young, I still have a lot of good football left in me,” White said. “I didn’t play my first couple years, so that kind of knocked two years off my career shelf-life, but I feel like I have plenty of good football left in me and wherever my future takes me, I’m excited about it and excited to be more productive next season.”
Given personal tragedy, losing his father in a car accident during the season, and his mother being injured in the same crash, White might want to play somewhere closer to home (Florida). But the Patriots should extend a reasonable offer to try and keep their offensive captain in New England.
White carried a base salary of $3 million in 2020, so that’s the ballpark to start.
As for McCourty, the veteran cornerback’s coverage skills continued to decline in 2020. But his role expanded to playing more safety last season, giving him some versatility, which is always a plus in a Belichick defense.
He was also an important locker room voice along with his brother, Devin, who is signed through 2021 and plans on returning. Perhaps another one-year deal makes sense.
Deatrich Wise, Adam Butler, Brandon Copeland, Rex Burkhead and Damiere Byrd are just a few other names on the list. But given the dynamics involved, the re-signings should to start with four of their captains.