Devin McCourty surprised many when he told NFL Hall-of-Famer Deion Sanders that he might retire if the Patriots won Super Bowl LIII. After the Pats beat the Los Angeles Rams, McCourty wouldn’t say whether he’d be back for the 2019 season.
This week, the Patriots captain had an answer. On Thursday night, McCourty said he'll be back next season.
"I’m going to play," McCourty told the
Devin McCourty surprised many when he told NFL Hall-of-Famer Deion Sanders that he might retire if the Patriots won Super Bowl LIII. After the Pats beat the Los Angeles Rams, McCourty wouldn’t say whether he’d be back for the 2019 season.
This week, the Patriots captain had an answer. On Thursday night, McCourty said he'll be back next season.
“I’m going to play,” McCourty told the Sports Spectrum podcast.
The defensive back has been a staple in the Patriots secondary since his 2010 rookie season. He went from being an All-Pro cornerback to an All-Pro safety. A captain and leader, on and off the field, McCourty is extremely important to the Patriots. He’s also started every game for the team over the last nine seasons.
In 2018, McCourty had another solid year, amassing 82 tackles, four deflections, an interception and a forced fumble. However, the 31-year-old told Sanders on Super Bowl Opening Night that winning a championship with his twin brother, Jason McCourty, would be hard to top. That’s one reason why the veteran would consider hanging up his cleats.
Last season was the first time the McCourty twins played on the same NFL team. After winning a Super Bowl together, however, McCourty told Sports Spectrum that he realized there’s more to playing than just rings.
“I think you just get so wrapped up in the season. At that point, that was media night when Deion said that to me. I was like, ‘Yeah man, if we win a Super Bowl, I don’t know what else can top that,’” McCourty said. “And I think in that moment, I kind of forgot, I don’t play this game just to win Super Bowls. There’s so much more that comes from me playing the game that I love. I think once you get a chance to step away for a couple of weeks now, you’re like, ‘Yeah man, I still do want to be around these other young guys that come in.’”
Of course, it remains to be seen if McCourty and the Patriots are on the same page with his contract. Currently, the safety is set to earn a base salary of $9 million and count as a $13.4-million cap hit. If the Pats released him, they would save $9.5 million off the cap.
They could approach him about restructuring. Another option would be to extend McCourty’s current contract and lower his current cap hit. That might be the best avenue as it would give the Patriots some cap room and perhaps keep McCourty around a little longer.
After losing defensive play caller Brian Flores and cornerbacks coach Josh Boyer to the Miami Dolphins, having McCourty back next season should be a priority for the Patriots. His leadership alone will help the defensive unit move forward with new coaches.
On the Sports Spectrum podcast, McCourty told a story about the feeling of winning his first Super Bowl during the 2014 season. When the team returned that offseason, the first thing they heard from Bill Belichick was how much they “suck” and how the previous year didn’t matter.
“It made you realize, if you play this game only for Super Bowls, you’re going to be very empty,” McCourty said. “As soon as you win it, it’s going to be how can you win it next year… I’ve been five times and won three times and all anyone cares about is if we win a seventh championship for the New England organization. So, like, you have to play for so much more. I love being able to just step away — being down here this week and then next week going to do a football camp in Puerto Rico with the family, it really starts to make you realize the platform you get to use to do some special things.”