The Patriots Trade for Jason McCourty
This is exactly what I needed on Day 2 of free agency. A nice pre-St. Paddy’s shot of Jameson’s for my soul. The Patriots not only upgrade from the dear, departed and eternally beloved Malcolm Butler, but they create a monopoly on McCourtys. And create a starting secondary of Stephon Gilmore, Jason McCourty, Devin McCourty, Duron Harmon and Pat Chung. Making the Eric Rowes, Jordan Richards, Johnson Bademosi and the twice-IR’ed Cyrus Jones just depth guys/special teamers as God intended.
For the record, this trade merely required the Pats swap their 205th pick overall this draft for McCourty and the Browns 219th pick. An absolute heist. By moving back 14 draft slots they get a 30-year-old outside corner who’s tough against the run and had 14 PBU and 3 interceptions on the worst team in football. Making this lady very happy:
And the major reason the Browns even made J-Mac available has nothing to do with football. It’s because back on New Year’s Day he blasted Hue Jackson on behalf of all his teammates for complaining that the Browns didn’t have any talent:
The talent in this locker room is not the talent to go win a Super Bowl this year, but this locker room is far more talented than 0-16. I’m kind of tired of hearing so many people say, even within the organization, is we don’t have the guys or we need more guys. Let’s work with the guys we do have and find ways to win games.
So in a power move, the Browns cut him effective today. So before the release was made official, Belichick swooped in and gave up next to nothing to land the starting corner he’s been after for years. There’s still plenty of work to be done and lost free agents to replace. But uniting the McCourty twins is a great, great place to start. Because the Patriots secondary just got a lot more interesting:
