McCourty retiring
- Thread starter BigJimEd
- Start date
View: https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/1634283300008218660
The ultimate leader. Thank you and congratulations,
@devinmccourty
The ultimate leader. Thank you and congratulations,
@devinmccourty
One of the two most visible defensive players during the second half of the Pats dynasty (the other being Hightower), more than anything his consistency was what I valued. He missed just 5 games in 13 years, and none since 2015. Hightower had more huge plays in super bowls, but McCourty was just always available as the backbone of a usually solid defense. He retires tied for 2nd all-time in solo playoff tackles, and tied for 3rd all-time in combined playoff tackles (with Bruschi). He'll be missed.
*edit - he's also first all time in playoff starts for a defensive player. Incredibly reliable.
*edit - he's also first all time in playoff starts for a defensive player. Incredibly reliable.
The durability factor is huge.
View: https://twitter.com/PatsBuzz/status/1633959122121965568
Devin McCourty’s Defensive snap count % throughout his career:
2012: 98%
2013: 95%
2014: 92%
2015: 97%
2016: 98%
2017: 97%
2018: 96%
2019: 94%
2020: 95%
2021: 94%
2022: 97%
View: https://twitter.com/PatsBuzz/status/1633959122121965568
Devin McCourty’s Defensive snap count % throughout his career:
2012: 98%
2013: 95%
2014: 92%
2015: 97%
2016: 98%
2017: 97%
2018: 96%
2019: 94%
2020: 95%
2021: 94%
2022: 97%
One of my favorite players from the 2nd Dynasty. A great leader, and (as far as we know) a great guy off the field also. I feel like he could have still contributed, but not surprising that he's going out now.
Obviously a key member of this run and he's borderline HOF worthy.
However, I'm glad he's hanging it up. My eye test tells me that he's been declining for the past few years and saw him make uncharacteristic mistakes in terms of closing speed and bad angles last season that suggested that the end was imminent.
However, I'm glad he's hanging it up. My eye test tells me that he's been declining for the past few years and saw him make uncharacteristic mistakes in terms of closing speed and bad angles last season that suggested that the end was imminent.
Congrats on a terrific career. He's gotten through about as clean as can be. Seemingly no major injuries and lots of personal and team success. I'll remember him as reliably very, very good, and occasionally great. His first year was shocking and after the second year dip and position change, he was an integral part of those great 2010s teams.
I wasn't there, but from all accounts, his pick of Flacco in the 2014 divisional was one of the loudest moments in Foxboro history
Amazing.
He definitely wasn't peak McCourty but he could still play and was big contributor last year. His snaps will not be easily replaced even with the depth they have.
Nothing, he was a free agent. There's a dead cap hit of near 10 million, but it was there regardless.
He had void years through 2026 and they spread out his signing bonus last year, did they not? I believe his base salary was 1.25M and his signing was 6.75M. His cap hit last year was only 5.75 and spotrac shows a dead cap hit is 9.7M this year
He had 9.7 million left spread out from all the extensions, but they are all signing bonus monies, so retiring doesn't affect anything. It should still be 9.7 million hitting the cap, which is where it stood when he hit free agency.
The cap dollars associated with the void years accelerate to hit the cap as dead money once the contract voids in a few days.
They could re-sign him to a minimum contract and process the retirement after 6/1, which would let them spread the dead hit across 2023 and 2024. The Saints did this when Brees retired.
So this is going to cost them more in 2023 than if he had re-signed, correct? They would have manipulated it down (for 2023), but they'd have had to eat the bill in 2024 or whenever he would otherwise have retired.
Played 13 seasons and had 40% of his career regular season interceptions over his last four seasons. That's a little crazy -- I hadn't realized that until I checked his career stats.
Huge hole to replace from the draft/FA market. Sad to see such a great one go, but lways happy when a player retires generally healthy and in command of his faculties.
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That was the loudest crowd in Gillette history. Had to be. This was great.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbGfCvkDbC4
4 years is 31% of his career. So it’s a little disproportionate but not that much so.
Right, but I really meant (but probably didn't make clear) is that the last four years were "past his prime years" -- Ages 32, 33, 34, and 35. IOW, 40% of INTs came when he was "old".
His "prime" years were actually his least productive with regard to INTs. He had 1 INT in each of his 26, 28, 29, 30, and 31 seasons, and only 2 in his age 27 season.
To me, it was surprising how good he was his first year year at CB. 7 INT's, 2nd Team All-Pro as a rookie? I thought we had the next Revis (or, better yet, the next Mike Haynes). It was shocking how much he fell off that 2nd year, so the change to FS made sense - if not welcome. I still don't know what happened to him at CB. There were a few years after that where the Pats wandered the desert without a shutdown CB until Revis did arrive. But McCourty was a terrific FS and seems just as terrific off the field. We're on fumes with regard to foundational Pats well-steeped in The Patriot Way. Best of luck to you, Mr. McCourty - really enjoyed watching you work.
Ah, I see - you are right, hadn’t thought of it like that. Certainly a consistent player over the years who played some of his best football after 30.
My vague recollection is that the Pats D shifted tactics after his first year, shifting from zone to M2M, which meant be was now playing with his back to the QB which didn't fit his skillset as well. But it's why shifting him to FS was so brilliant and effective.
I had never thought about this until now, but...
Tom Brady is the only player with more than 3 SB wins as a Patriot, isn't he?
Maybe not if Jalen Mills can slide over as speculated and the Pats draft a quality CB in the first round, also as speculated by some. Joey Porter anyone?
I believe Wilfork is the only other player who won super bowls in both halves of the dynasty, and just barely (he was a rookie in 04, and his last year with the Pats was 14).
Yeah, I think that’s right. Ben Watson is probably the only other player who played on both sides of the fence (<=39 and >=49) but after their last SB in 53.
For some reason, I was driving around and listening to one of the area sports stations absolutely kill the Pats for this trade (they moved down from 24 to 27 via the Cowboys, who selected Dez Bryant) and pick. Experts were apoplectic that the Pats would select a CB from Rutgers ("Rutgers? They suck!") and how it was huge mistake and more proof that Belichick (the GM) was making things tough for Belichick (the coach).
But McCourty was something else. A great Patriot and hopefully one that will end up in the Foxboro HoF real soon.
But McCourty was something else. A great Patriot and hopefully one that will end up in the Foxboro HoF real soon.
The funny thing about all the Rutgers jokes - which were beaten to death ten times over - is that all of those picks (Harmon, Ryan, DMC) were good to great.
This was a great ceremony. Of note, TB12’s public rapprochement with the Pats continues, as he was one of 8-10 guys who recorded a congratulatory message for a montage shown during the ceremony.
There was more to that series of trades...
The Patriots started at 22. They traded down from 22 to 24 with the Broncos - receiving #113. The Broncos drafted Demaryius Thimas. & #113 was the pick used to draft Aaron Hernandez.
Then they traded fun 24 to 27, getting not a lot of value - moving up from 119 to 90, where they drafted Taylor Price. This would have been a lot more memorable if the Pats took NaVorro Bowman who went 91.
Pretty clear case of BB falling in love with McCourty & being willing to get some more value before getting his guy.
They talk about the McCourty pick in one of the Holley books. They loved him but had him pegged as a second rounder around the league. They had an opportunity to trade back a third time but thought the Jets would also take a corner. They thought the Jets would prefer Kyle Wilson, but still decided not to risk it. (The Jets did take Wilson)