After momentarily announcing they were releasing cornerback Jason McCourty, the Cleveland Browns instead decided to trade him to our beloved Patriots, uniting him with his twin brother Devin and giving Patriots fans a feel-good moment after a disappointing start to free agency.
Trade: The #Browns have traded Jason McCourty to his brother Devin McCourty and the Patriots… They are swapping 6th and 7th round picks this year.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 15, 2018
J-Mac, as he’s known on the social media accounts the twins share, has one year left on his contract that pays him a manageable $2.375 million. This gives the Patriots some reinforcement at the cornerback position that was a light after losing Malcolm Butler, who, oh by the way, will be making $30 million guaranteed on a five-year, $61 million contract. Yes, this is Patriots economics at work here.
McCourty has played 122 career games, spanning eight years with the Titans, and one with the Browns, nabbing 16 interceptions and eight forced fumbles.
How exactly the other twin fits in will have to be determined. We know Stephon Gilmore will be locking down one side of the field, but how the McCourty and Eric Rowe handle the other side and slot duties will be something to watch. Jonathan Jones should very much be in the mix in the slot as well, though the Pats are a matchup secondary and they now have four pretty good pieces to play with.
What we know for sure is that McCourty should fit right into the secondary from a personality standpoint. How well he fits into the system and what he can bring to the Patriots party on the field will remain to be seen until this summer. But after a weird start to 2017, when the secondary, including the veterans, got off to a tepid start, this is the kind of solid locker room move that should help bring everyone together even quicker, because you know, you’ve got a set of twins at the center of it, and one of them is already the leader of the secondary.
While there’s still plenty of anger out there at Bill Belichick for a myriad of reasons, we can at least count on Devin McCourty to be leading the Hoodie Hype Parade at the moment. Will the twins be able to incorporate their own language or pull switcheroos on unsuspecting teammates? Again, we’ll just have to wait and see, but the free agency narrative around the Patriots has suddenly taken a turn toward feel-good family fun.