Last year, Patriots safety Devin McCourty suggested that he may choose to retire after the Super Bowl. But he ended up playing in 2019, the last year of his contract with New England, and the free agent-to-be is apparently not making any bones about his desire to continue his playing career this time around.
Agent Andy Simms, who has represented McCourty since the Patriots selected him in the first round of the 2010 draft, told Mike Reiss of ESPN.com that his client has no intention of hanging up the cleats. “He wants to play. Retirement is not an option,” Simms said.
McCourty, who will turn 33 before Week 1 of the 2020 regular season, showed this past season that he has plenty left in the tank. Starting all 16 games for the fourth consecutive year, the Rutgers product logged five interceptions — his highest total since the 2012 campaign — and allowed a completion percentage of 54.3 as the nearest defender in coverage. His on-field leadership and his ability to facilitate communication among the Pats’ defensive backs has been a critical component of the club’s defensive success.
However, the Patriots are only projected to have $28MM or so in cap room for 2020, and despite his age, McCourty could draw a contract paying him at least $10MM per year. He has already won three Super Bowl rings, so if a team like the Dolphins — who are rumored to have interest and who could reunite him with former Pats DC Brian Flores — gives him a top-of-the-market offer New England can’t match, it may be tough to turn down.
McCourty did not have any concrete thoughts on his future when discussing free agency in a recent podcast. “No one really knows what’s going to happen,” he said. “I would say most teams really don’t even think about free agency for a couple weeks; I would say the beginning of March … So you think where you could go, will you be on your team again? But there’s really nothing [definitive] to think about.”
Goodbye McCourty. No way he’s getting that kinda dough from the pats