New England Patriots

New England Patriots: Paying Dont'a Hightower Might Be Complicated

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 10:09 p.m. ET

Fansided, Joe Soriano/FanSided via NFL Spin Zone

The New England Patriots have no bigger priority in free agency than Dont’a Hightower. That is, of course, if they want to pay the star linebacker big money.

Few would argue that Dont’a Hightower played an important role in the New England Patriots Super Bowl-winning season, and even fewer people would disagree with the notion that he is one of the best linebackers in the NFL.

On paper, Hightower looks like the Patriots clear priority among their impending free agents. They’ll have to work out something with restricted free agent cornerback Malcolm Butler, and fellow star corner Logan Ryan is set to hit the free agent market. Additionally, the Patriots will have to see what Duron Harmon, Alan Branch, Jabaal Sheard, LeGarrette Blount, and Martellus Bennett are looking for.

That’s quite the list of big names, so it’s a testament to Hightower’s quality that there’s no doubt about him being the best of the bunch. Hightower’s 65 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and two passes defended don’t jump off the page, but his impact has never been about the numbers.

Hightower is a safe tackler, a tough downhill run stuffer who doesn’t simply accrue clean-up tackles, an excellent pass rusher as a traditional linebacker, a scheme-versatile player, and a significantly improved cover man.

For the past three seasons, Hightower has been one of the NFL’s elite linebackers. His importance to the Patriots increased this year following an in-season trade that sent Jamie Collins to the Cleveland Browns. You could argue that Hightower has proven to be the better (steadier may be the more appropriate term) linebacker since then.

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If that’s the case, then you can see why the Patriots might not be able to keep him. I’m sure they’d love to have a player of Hightower’s caliber back, and he seems like a quiet, “Do Your Job” leader that the team appreciates. In fact, Bill Belichick and Matt Patricia praised Hightower’s work as the defense’s “quarterback” throughout the 2016 season.

The Patriots have an overwhelming amount of cap space, but they have always been reluctant about paying players too much. Trading away Chandler Jones and Collins bodes well for Hightower’s chances to receive the money he’s looking for from New England, but the counterpoint has always been this: If the Patriots traded away Jones and Collins before they would have to pay them, they aren’t interested in overpaying Hightower either.

Collins just signed a four-year, $50 million deal with $26.4 million in guarantees with the Cleveland Browns, and it’s a ridiculous amount of money. Not only does that mean he’s paid more than pure edge rusher Ryan Kerrigan, but his 52.8 percent guaranteed is the most among any linebacker who makes more than $7.5 million per year.

Recently, CSN New England’s Tom E. Curran wrote that the Patriots will likely approach negotiations with Hightower under the assumption that the linebacker will test free agency. What’s more striking is a report from the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, who tweeted that Hightower rejected an offer from the Patriots before the season worth more than $10 million per year.

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You can read that in two ways. First, you could say that it shows how much the Patriots value Hightower, but the issue is that they offered a similar deal to Collins, who was traded. In which case, you could conclude that Hightower will want far more money than the Pats are willing to give, seeing as how his value has only increased after a highly successful season.

For as much praise as Hightower garners, how important is a middle linebacker these days? Although he offers much more to this team as a leader and as a three-down player than most linebackers, the fact of the matter is that non-transcendent defensive players (so players who aren’t J.J. Watt, Richard Sherman, or Von Miller) don’t impact games that profoundly. Hightower did not play in Weeks 2, 3 or 16. The Patriots won all of those games, allowing just 10.0 points per game in those three contests. Granted, their big games came against Brock Osweiler and Ryan Fitzpatrick, so it is not a damning stat by any stretch.

That said, it is food for thought. Because as it stands right now, Hightower is in a position to reset the market at the linebacker position. Lavonte David, NaVorro Bowman, Bobby Wagner, and Luke Kuechly are the only traditional linebackers who make more than $10 million per year, according to Over The Cap. In the prime of his career and with another Super Bowl ring on his hand, Hightower could aim for $11 million a year, which would make him the second highest-paid linebacker in the league behind Kuechly.

I’m not sure the Patriots want to commit that kind of money to a player who, ultimately, isn’t the main reason for them winning games. It seems like they value defensive backs like Devin McCourty, Butler, and Ryan more.

Now, it’s worth keeping McCourty in mind, because the elite free safety entered 2015 free agency with similar questions surrounding him. Instead of resetting the market at the free safety position, he took a slight discount to remain with the Patriots. Perhaps Hightower could do the same, but his comments in recent interviews may suggest otherwise.

Of course, I’ve yet to mention the franchise tag—purposefully. Beyond the uncertainty of the Patriots willingness to swallow a projected $14.754 million cap hit in 2017 (figure from CBS Sports’s Joel Corry’s projections), the franchise tag wouldn’t change much of the fundamental questions about Hightower’s value to the team and in comparison to linebackers around the league. We’d just be having the same conversation next year.

Either the Collins and Jones moves were building towards the Patriots paying up for Hightower, or the Pats will continue to follow their hardline stance of not overpaying for players. I’d guess it’s the latter, and Hightower is a candidate to get a little too much money this offseason. He’s a reliable, established star with an inconsequential injury history, and he is in prime position to become one of the two highest-paid off-ball linebackers in the league.

If he wasn’t willing to take a $10 million-per-year deal before the season and doesn’t sound pressed to re-sign before free agency hits, I have a feeling he wants to price himself out of the Patriots range. Working in his favor is the fact that there aren’t any other great options at the position in free agency.