As free agency draws closer and closer, fans of the New England Patriots are anxious to find out how the team plans to handle All-Pro safety Devin McCourty.
Some rumors suggested that McCourty could leave New England in free agency and possibly join the New York Jets. Other, more recent reports, have hinted that the Patriots could use the franchise tag to keep McCourty in town for at least one more season. That option didn't appear to be too unappealing to the veteran safety.
"Devin McCourty didn't know if the Patriots were going to give him the franchise tag but he said that wouldn't be the worst thing," Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald reported.
"To me that's no reason to stress. I love it here. The franchise tag is player-friendly now. It's a good number," McCourty said, via Phil Perry of CSNNE.com.
The 2015 franchise tag for safeties is expected to be $9.53 million. That's a solid raise from the 2014 amount of $8.44 million.
Of course, the Patriots must first figure out how to retain cornerback Darrelle Revis. Revis is technically under contract for the 2015 season, but his $20-plus million salary cap hit is too large for nearly any team to stomach. New England hopes to work out a long-term extension with Revis in order to lower his cap hit and keep him in a Patriots uniform for the foreseeable future.
Once a conclusion is brought to that contract drama, then the Patriots will know how much money they have leftover for McCourty. The team's preference is surely to keep him in Foxborough for the long-term. But if that's not feasible, Bill Belichick must make sure he at least has enough money to slap McCourty with the franchise tag.
Free agency opens on March 10.
