New England Patriots: 5 offseason storylines of intrigue
What will Devin McCourty do?
As stable as the New England Patriots secondary was in 2018, they could be faced with a major role to replace in 2019 if safety and eight-time captain Devin McCourty decides to retire this offseason.
Of course, Patriots fans weren’t thinking about a possible retirement until the Rutgers alum served up this little nugget prior to Super Bowl LIII:
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"“I don’t know for sure, man. But I do look at it – if we can win this game, winning with my brother [Jason], I don’t know what else I could do that could top that. So I’m just trying to make sure I enjoy this season and enjoy these last couple days with these guys.”"
Well, the Patriots won the Super Bowl which marked McCourty’s third in a season in which he finally got to play with his brother Jason McCourty.
At the age of 31, Devin McCourty certainly has more in the tank. But, like he mentioned in the pre-Super Bowl statement above, there is not much left for him to accomplish in the NFL. Playing in 139 career regular-season games throughout his career, including 21 playoff games, there isn’t much more the New England Patriots could ask of McCourty.
Well, they could ask him to restructure his contract to save the team some cap space if he decides to return in 2019. Of course, if he calls it quit, the team will have some money to spend to find his replacement in free agency. If he returns, expect Bill Belichick to still draft a couple of safeties in the 2019 NFL Draft as he prepares for a future without the reliable veteran safety.