One Pats Great Retires & Another Unexpectedly Returns Here After A Brief Taste Of Free Agency

 

    One of the craziest weeks in Patriots history continued today with three more moves involving solid veteran players. This morning, longtime Pats safety Patrick Chung announced his retirement after 11 seasons in the NFL. This afternoon, kicker Nick Folk was re-signed to a one-year deal with $1.225 million guaranteed. Finally, tonight came the biggest news of all: center David Andrews was returning to New England with a new four-year contract after he look destined to leave in free agency a few days ago. The net result of these transactions is that the Patriots are fortified by not having to worry about finding another quality kicker or center going into next season. 

Chung spent all but one season (2013 with Philadelphia) in the NFL with the Patriots and he won three Super Bowls along the way. A tough, versatile guy that got much more consistent in his second go-around in Foxborough, he will be missed. He could help shut down top tight ends in the passing game and was also able to provide help stopping the run. You could tell that he was one of head coach/GM Bill Belichick's favorite players to work with in recent years that he really respected. He had opted out of last season and he will turn 34 this August so he could probably see the writing on the wall after he played through his share of injuries in the NFL. Enjoy retirement, you earned it!  

    Folk has been on the Patriots the last two seasons after he won their kicker tryout in the middle of the 2019 regular season. It's been a long time since he made his lone Pro Bowl appearance way back in 2007-his rookie year in Dallas-but he's dependable and that's all you can ask for from a kicker that's not named Adam Vinatieri or Justin Tucker. He was 26-of-28 on field goals in 2020 for the best field goal percentage (92.9%) of his career. He also went 30-of-33 on extra points and while he will turn 37 in November, he seems to keep himself in decent enough shape so there isn't much to worry about there at least as far as next season goes.

    Andrews is one of New England's biggest success stories since he was an undrafted free agent coming out of Georgia in 2015 and he morphed into a captain and one of their team leaders. After missing the entire 2019 campaign due to a scary blood clots condition, he returned last season to play and start in 12 games. When the Pats signed their former offensive lineman Ted Karras to a one-year deal worth $4 million dollars earlier this week, most of the beat writers figured that signaled Andrews was gone. There were reports of other teams that wanted him and he definitely could have cashed in during free agency but props to him for returning here probably at a hometown discount whenever the full contract details are publicized. Cam Newton and whatever other quarterbacks play for the Patriots this season will be thrilled to have him back.

After A Year In Miami, Kyle Van Noy Returns To New England Where He Became A Standout

 

    In recent years, outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy was one of the greatest success stories for the Patriots. In October 2016, he was rescued from Detroit (along with a seventh-round draft pick in 2017) for the pittance of a sixth-round draft pick in 2017. In 3.5 seasons in New England, he became one of the best players on their defense and helped them win two Super Bowls in the process. Nobody could blame him for taking the money and hightailing it to sunny Miami last off-season but are you surprised that he's coming back here on a two-year deal worth up to $13.2 million? You shouldn't be, after he was released by the Dolphins last week, we all had a feeling that he could be returning to Foxborough even sooner than we could have imagined. 

    Strangely enough, it doesn't seem like he was a bust in his one season for Miami head coach (and former Patriots assistant) Brian Flores. Van Noy played in 14 games (13 starts) and accumulated six passes defended, he forced two fumbles, recovered two fumbles and had six sacks. He made 46 solo tackles, 23 assists, with a career-high 10 tackles for loss and 10 quarterback hits. He'll turn 30 next week so he is in the prime of his career. So what's the catch, why were the Dolphins so ready to get rid of him after they couldn't find a suitable trade partner? It starts and end with the silly deal that they gave him (4 years, $51 million) that they probably regretted from day one not because he's a bad player but rather he's not that type of gamebreaker which you expect at that cost. 

    It was another busy day for head coach/GM Bill Belichick and the Pats on Wednesday as they agreed to a one-year, $4 million dollar deal with another ex-Patriot who spent last season with the Dolphins-center/guard Ted Karras. He could start in 2021 since this afternoon also brought the news that Patriots center David Andrews was going to become a free agent. The team also re-signed special teamer Cody Davis to a two-year deal and they used a second-round tender on cornerback JC Jackson meaning they can match any offer sheet that he signs or get back a second-round pick. 

        Andrews will be missed if he is in fact gone but the headline was obviously Van Noy deciding to come back here. Another sign that like Karras and Trent Brown, there are a few players left in the NFL that see the value of Belichick's rigid system and old school values. I'm sure that Kyle had offers from a host of other teams-most of which probably would have paid him more money-but for whatever reason he chose to return to a familiar place helped to put him on the map. It's also an added bonus that Van Noy is one of the few players for the Patriots under Belichick that had a personality and a sense of humor so in addition to his on-field impact, I look forward to more interesting interviews and soundbites from him. 

Without Further Ado, Let The Trent Brown Back With The Patriots 2021 Reunion Tour Commence

 

    For the first time in months, we woke up to positive news today involving the Patriots. They re-acquired massive offensive tackle Trent Brown from the Raiders and all it took was a fifth-round draft pick in 2022 sent to Vegas in exchange for the biggest guy in the NFL (6-foot-8, 380 pounds!) and a seventh-round draft pick in 2022. Brown only played in New England for one glorious season but it was a great one as he started every game in 2018 when the Pats won the Super Bowl against the Rams and he was named to the only Pro Bowl of his career. As anybody with half a clue could predict, he quickly bolted in free agency to the highest bidder which turned out to be the Raiders: four years, $66 million contract.

    The truth is that Brown was probably about to be straight up released by Las Vegas any day now but with that said, it's still nice to see New England make a move rather than wait for that to happen where they would have to sift through the discount rack with every other NFL team. To say that Brown's brief time (2 years) with the Raiders was bumpy would be generous. He only played in 16 games combined for the Silver and Black: 11 in 2019 and down to five in 2020 due to a variety of injuries plus multiple trips to the Covid-19 list. We all know head coach/GM Bill Belichick's obsession with a good deal and he certainly got one here with Brown's restructured one-year contract only worth up to $11 million which will likely feature a ton of incentives that he won't reach.

    Clearly signing an offensive lineman isn't going to move the needle too much for Belichick and the Pats who both desperately need some good publicity but all we can hope is that signing Brown is perhaps a sign that the Patriots are ready to fortify even more one of their few areas of strength (the offensive line) which in turn will help a new quarterback-whoever that may be. With his monstrous size, Brown is naturally great in pass protection assuming (a big if with him) that he's in better playing shape but you'll remember during that awesome postseason that New England turned into a power running team and he was instrumental in that aspect too. I won't bore you (or myself) with a deeper dive about offensive linemen but this also likely signals the end of guard Joe Thuney's time in Foxborough; he played under the franchise tag last season but they are not expected to do that again as the price would increase by three million dollars from $14.7 million to $17.7 million in 2021.

    You also wonder what this means for tackle Marcus Cannon who opted out from last season but he is expected to return to play this year and center David Andrews who will probably be signed to an extension sometime soon. Brown was never a big-time prospect coming out of the University of Florida since he was drafted in the last round (7th, 244th overall) in 2015 by the 49ers. He played in 31 games for San Francisco over three seasons before he was flipped to the Patriots along with a fifth-round pick (linebacker Ja'Whaun Bentley) for a third-round pick (safety Tarvarius Moore) to San Francisco. As you can see, Brown made a boatload of money and became a household name (haha work with me on this) thanks to his one season here. Judging by his social media posts today on Twitter and Instagram, he seems excited to return but without Tom Brady as a teammate, we'll see how long that lasts for. Bottom line, it's nice to see the Patriots do something after being inactive for so long while plenty of other teams around the league make moves to improve their club-what a crazy concept after a a terrible 7-9 campaign! It's also refreshing to see a guy that's played for the Patriots in recent years want to come back when other notable guys lately (Brady and Rob Gronkowski) want nothing to do with Bill or the franchise anymore.