The Patriots and safety Patrick Chung have agreed to an extension, as ESPN’s Field Yates reports (via Twitter). Chung had been signed through the 2021 season, and the extension will keep him under club control through 2023.
As part of the new deal, the 32-year-old will land a $3MM signing bonus and can earn up to $12.8MM over the next four seasons. As Mike Reiss of ESPN.com notes, however, New England’s primary motivation was to obtain some cap relief. The Pats squeezed out just $925K of cap room, but they were working with just $600K before. And it should be enough to get their top draft pick from this year’s class, Kyle Dugger, under contract.
The Patriots selected Chung in the second round of the 2009 draft, and he has spent all but one year of his career with New England, starting 112 of a possible 141 regular season games and collecting three Super Bowl rings. Though he has never made the Pro Bowl, he and fellow safety Devin McCourty have brought stability and cohesiveness to the back end of New England’s defense, and head coach Bill Belichick has often expressed his appreciation for Chung’s play. And Chung has said Belichick is the only coach he will ever play for.
Today’s move marks the fifth straight year in which the Pats have given Chung a pay raise, as Ben Volin of the Boston Globe observes (Twitter link). But while the Patriots’ defense as a whole was rock solid in 2019, the advanced metrics indicated that Chung’s personal performance declined from his 2018 levels, and the Oregon product may cede some snaps to Dugger in 2020. As such, it’s far from certain that Chung makes it to 2021 with New England, let alone 2023, but after contemplating retirement — as Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets — Chung will definitely be back in Foxborough this season.
In the piece linked above, Reiss passes along details of the extension. In addition to his signing bonus, Chung will earn a $1.1MM base salary in 2020 and will be able to earn up to $800K in per-game roster bonuses and a $100K workout bonus. In the subsequent three seasons, he stands to take home a base salary of $1.9MM with $400K in per-game roster bonuses, $200K in incentives, and a $100K annual workout bonus.
Chung was indicted for felony drug possession in August, but those charges were later dropped. He could still face discipline from the league, but there have been no reports on that front as of today’s date.
The Patriots secondary will be their only strength this season. Their defense as a whole will be good, but their offense, with a loss of many free agents and coaching personnel, will be needy. I think they will have a losing record and will miss the playoffs completely. Unless Stidham shines, and the running game comes alive, I don’t see this team scoring much more than an average of 17 point/game, at best.
Bet the under all year.
The Bills were 24th in scoring efficiency last season. The Dolphins ranked 27th and the Jets 30th. The Patriots won’t be missing the playoffs.
@crosseyedlemon
Those 3 teams got better on paper this off-season while the Patriots got worse. Doesn’t really matter where they ranked in 2019 as all three teams could be significantly better in 2020 while odds are that the Patriots will be worse. There is a very good chance that the Patriots miss the playoffs.
Getting better on paper means nothing. Ask the Browns fans who were told they were headed to a division title about that.
@crosseyedlemon
The Bills were a playoff team last year and added more talent. The Jets finished the season strong and added more talent. The Dolphins finished the season strong , including beating the Brady lead Patriots in Foxboro when they had a playoff bye on the line, and added more talent. The Patriots lost their starting QB (you know the guy who helped them win 6 Super Bowls), two of their best linebackers, one of their better defensive linemen and their backup center who started all of 2019 because their starter was injured. Of course not all the additions the other 3 teams made will work out however the odds are that at least two of those teams will be better and reality points to the Patriots being worse.
Saying that getting better on paper means nothing is false. If even half of the talent that those teams added produces then there is a very good chance that it will result in the overall team improving. Yes we know the Browns failed to improve. In this case you are counting on 3 teams to fail while the Patriots defy the odds by winning with an inexperienced QB and less talented defense. Good luck with that.
Let’s just ignore that the Bills have only won twice in Buffalo against the Patriots in the past 20 years.
@crosseyedlemon
Since everyone seems to be ignoring a bunch of other facts I guess ignoring the one you mentioned is inconsequential. Hey the last time the Bills faced the Patriots when Brady was not starting at QB, the Bills came away victorious. How many times will the Bills face the Patriots with Brady starting at QB in 2020? Unless this Earth goes into some sort of time warp or dimensional flux, I would have to say the answer to that question will be 0. So we will see if the Bills can continue their winning streak when using that variable.
Getting better or worse on paper is a poor gauge to access any team….there is absolutely no way to predict where any team will end up until the season is played.
You can’t predict performance by any rookie or second year player. Its even difficult to gauge what a veteran players performance will be one way or the other. You can’t predict injury. That’s what makes it so exciting for every team and it’s fans. You just dont know.
Of course you can predict whether a team is going to be better or worse than the prior season. Ask Vegas !
Posting odds is not the same as making a prediction. Sportsbooks look to find the point where they can profit from either side of a game.
Great point
‘Chung was indicted for felony drug possession in August, but those charges were later dropped.’
I think we already know that the 2 CB’s will have the same results. Money talks.
I try to get my money to talk but it all it want’s to say to me is “goodbye”.
Any one who thinks the Pats miss the playoffs need to stop following football. I’m a Bills fan and it’s obvious to me that the Pats are still the team to beat. The Pats are so much deeper than the casual fan realizes.
@tjbarnaba
I have been following the NFL for over 30 years. Seen many teams rise and fall. Anyone who has been paying close attention to the 2020 off-season would understand why many would be saying that the Patriots may not make the playoffs. All three of their division rivals have improved while the Patriots lost their starting QB and some key starters on defense. Going through the Patriots’ 2020 schedule, I see them hovering around .500 which will most likely not be good enough to make the playoffs. To your recommendation that I stop following football. Nah, I don’t think that I will but thanks for the suggestion.
If you’ve been watching football “for over 30 years” then you’ve watched the Patriots “rise” but not fall for 20 and you’ve watched the Patriots defense get pilfered every year. You’ve also watched the rest of the AFC East add talent nearly every year. But despite the overwhelming odds going against you, this is going to be the year….
You do know that the Patriots have a 2nd year QB starting on an offense that doesn’t have a lot of talent at the WR position? You act like that Brady was some scrub and that his loss is meaningless. You also don’t seem to understand that everything comes to an end. A team losing their best player who happens to play at the most important position on the team is a very good reason to expect a dropoff from that team. Keep on living in the past though and denying the reality of the present.
There’s a HUGE difference between a “drop off” and the original nonsense you posted. They’re not even remotely similar
@slapnuts
I said that they will hover around .500 this year and are unlikely to make the playoffs. To me that is the type of dropoff they will have. It’s not like I am predicting them to be a 5-11 team. 7 to 9 wins is what I expect from them which is a 3 to 5 game dropoff from last year. When you lose a high end veteran QB and replace him with an inexperienced one while factoring all their other loses that is a realistic record prediction. Have you even bothered to look at their schedule? I have gone through it thoroughly and as I have said I see 7 to 9 wins.
If you disagree that is fine. However the original post that I responded to said anyone who doesn’t believe that the Patriots are going to make the playoffs should stop following football, which is a ridiculous comment.
@slapnuts
I said that will hover around .500 this year and are unlikely to make the playoffs. To me that is the type of dropoff they will have. It’s not like I am predicting them to be a 5-11 team. 7 to 9 wins is what I expect from them which is a 3 to 5 game dropoff from last year. When you lose a high end veteran QB and replace him with an inexperienced one while factoring all their other loses that is a realistic record prediction. Have you even bothered to look at their schedule? I have gone through it thoroughly and as I have said I see 7 to 9 wins.
Anyone is free to disagree with me. However the original post that I responded to said anyone who doesn’t believe that the Patriots are going to make the playoffs should stop following football, which is a ridiculous comment.
Does the new deal make Chung King ??
Chung King will play out this coming season, if we have one, just like the Patriots asked of him. He will help tutor Dugger and then retire after the season, even though he got a 2 year contract.