New England Patriots: Dont’a Hightower’s Return Wins Free Agency

The New England Patriots took a gamble and it paid off as their biggest free agent, Dont’a Hightower, has re-signed with the team.

It has been quite the free agency period for the New England Patriots.  Even if they do lose cornerback Malcolm Butler, fans should consider the offseason a success mainly because of the unrestricted free agents they were able to re-sign.  The main one being linebacker and defensive co-captain Dont’a Hightower.

With the additions of Stephon Gilmore, Lawrence Guy, Rex Burkhead as well as Dwayne Allen, Brandin Cooks and Kony Ealy via trade, the Patriots have more than replaced the free agents they lost.  The one position they didn’t address was at linebacker, which makes Hightower’s return such a major victory.

I’m sure Bill Belichick had a plan in place in case the team did lose out on Hightower, but the patience they had with him by allowing him to test free agency tells just how important he is to the defense.  The four-year, $43.5 million contract also details his importance.

There is still a lot of offseason to go, but so far the New England Patriots are dominating free agency.  With Hightower back in the mix, Belichick now has the freedom to add some complimentary pieces through the draft or with the remaining free agents out there.

Health concerns

One of the teams that were chasing the services of Dont’a Hightower were the New York Jets.  Following his decision to return to the Patriots, MMQB.com’s Albert Breer reported that the Jets pulled their offer after the All-Pro linebacker took a physical.

According to ESPN’s Rich Cimini, the AFC East rivals initially offered Hightower a five-year, $55 million contract.  While it is more probable than not that Hightower would’ve rejected the deal, the Jets have voiced their concern with his ability to stay on the field.

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The fact that Hightower has missed 13 regular season games in his five seasons in the NFL would cause hesitancy.  In fact, the Patriots have their own concerns highlighted in the details of their contract.  As Breer pointed out, the per-game roster bonuses symbolize the team’s awareness of Hightower’s past inability to play a full 16-game season.

"“If you look at the Patriots contract, they’re telling you the exact same thing (as the Jets),” Breer explained, via CSNNE.com.  “The per-game roster bonuses in his deal are larger than any other player on the roster.  That includes Rob Gronkowski.  That includes Tom Brady – who is going to be playing into his 40s on that contract.  That includes Julian Edelman.  On top of that, there are incentives that also will be based on health play time, Pro Bowl, All-Pro.”"

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What Dont’a Hightower’s injury history shows is how physical he is on the field.  It also shows just how important he is to a New England Patriots team.  Bill Belichick put more value to his performance on the field than the amount of time he hasn’t been on the field.