The Pats deal for veteran safety Devin McCourty’s twin brother, Jason, adding the cornerback to their secondary after losing starter Malcolm Butler to Tennessee earlier this week.
Identical twins?
Genetically? Yes. Professionally? Not even close.
While Patriots safety Devin McCourty has played in 19 postseason games, including four Super Bowls (he’s won two), cornerback Jason McCourty has yet to appear in an NFL playoff game over nine years with Tennessee and Cleveland.
Now, the two who grew up in Montvale, N.J., and played their college ball together at Rutgers University, are being reunited in New England.
The Patriots acquired McCourty – the playoff-starved one – in a trade with the Browns on Thursday afternoon.
The cost? Relatively cheap.
The Pats received the 30-year-old McCourty and a seventh-round choice in the April 26-28 NFL Draft in exchange for a sixth-round selection next month, the swap of picks dropping them just 14 spots (from 205 to 219); beyond that, he carries a more-than-reasonable salary cap figure of just under $3 million on the second year of the contract he signed with the Browns after being released by the Titans.
The trade gives the Patriots two sets of twins: Jacob Hollister, a tight end who spent the past season on their 53-man roster, and his brother Cody, a wide receiver who was on the practice squad, were rookies with the team last year.
The deal also gives the Patriots a potential replacement for Malcolm Butler, their Super Bowl XLIX hero and three-year starter who left the team earlier this week, the unrestricted free agent signing a five-year, $61-million contract with Tennessee. If McCourty isn’t the favorite to replace Butler, at the very least he is a strong candidate to do so.
Yes, there is a distinct possibility that opposing quarterbacks will be seeing double in the Patriots’ starting secondary this season.
As it now stands, the Patriots’ secondary consists of Stephon Gilmore, Eric Rowe, Jason McCourty, Jonathan Jones, Cyrus Jones, Ryan Lewis and Jomal Wiltz at cornerback, and Devin McCourty, Patrick Chung, Duron Harmon, Jordan Richards, David Jones and Damarius Travis at safety.
Five-foot-11 and 195 pounds, Jason McCourty has appeared in 122 games over a nine-year career, registering 570 tackles, 16 interceptions he’s returned for 158 yards and 87 passes defensed.
McCourty started 14 games for the winless Browns last season and made 65 tackles while leading the team in interceptions with three (including a 56-yard pick-six in Cleveland’s 33-17 loss at Houston on Oct. 15) and passes defensed with 14.