No long-term deal for Patriots guard Thuney

By signing the franchise tag on March 19, Joe Thuney became the second-highest paid guard in the NFL.

It was a title worth holding on to.

The New England Patriots knew their mainstay at guard wasn’t going anywhere for the 2020 season, but could have tried to lock Thuney up and free up cap space with a long-term contract by the deadline Wednesday. There were no last-minute Bill Belichick bombs this time, as 4 p.m. came and went, meaning Thuney will play 2020 for $14. [...]

By signing the franchise tag on March 19, Joe Thuney became the second-highest paid guard in the NFL.

It was a title worth holding on to.

The New England Patriots knew their mainstay at guard wasn’t going anywhere for the 2020 season, but could have tried to lock Thuney up and free up cap space with a long-term contract by the deadline Wednesday. There were no last-minute Bill Belichick bombs this time, as 4 p.m. came and went, meaning Thuney will play 2020 for $14.78 million and head to free agency after the season.

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Reports early Thursday from the NFL Network’s Mike Giardi and Ian Rapoport said Thuney and the Patriots weren’t going to happen and ultimately proved to be correct.

The surprise was in the lack of surprise. Since Thuney signed his franchise tender – the first in the NFL to do so this offseason – the storyline remained the guard was playing under the tag and heading to free agency.

Thuney was drafted in 2016 and, as many Patriots have, became the answer to a trivia question as the first player in NFL history to start in a Super Bowl in his first three years in the league.

It’s been hard to Google his name without finding it attached to some sort of trade rumor since before the trade deadline during the 2019 season. Those rumors picked up more speed after the season once it was announced the Patriots would use the franchise tag on him and then again when he signed the tender.

As the NFL Draft approached there were more rumors but the draft came and went and Thuney, much like his name in the starting lineup, never moved.

So what’s next for Thuney? Like everyone else, football hopefully.

If the NFL season does happen, Thuney will become an unrestricted free agent after 2020 and someone’s going to give him a bag or two when he hits free agency.

According to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, tagged players will sometimes take their tagged number and use 120 percent of that figure "as a starting point for guaranteed money in negotiations" for a long-term deal. That’s $32 million, and after the Patriots handed guard Shaq Mason $50 mil with 23.5 guaranteed, it’s really hard to imagine Belichick paying two guards more than Danny Ainge does.

erueb@providencejournal.com

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On Twitter: @EricRueb