This is how close it came to safety Devin McCourty not returning to the New England Patriots: As the negotiating process was winding down Sunday, McCourty and head coach Bill Belichick had a phone conversation in which McCourty thanked him for a great five years with the franchise.
Unfortunately, McCourty told him, it looked like he was ready to move on. The Eagles, Giants and Jaguars were three teams making the strongest push, with the Titans also in the mix, and there was a deal with another team that McCourty was ready to accept.
It was at that point that Belichick and the Patriots stepped up to levels they hadn't in the process. Their final offer of five years for $47.5 million with $28.5 million in total guarantees (a record number of total guarantees for a safety) swayed McCourty's decision at the last moment.
He was coming back to the Patriots.
This is the fine line of contract negotiations, when things can twist and turn in an instant. Deadlines, and the reality of losing a player, can spark a team to extend beyond what it previously had shown a willingness to do and well beyond its initial offer.