Think they recognize that Brady and Belichek window eventually will close (hopefully sooner rather than later).
Brady is in his Twilight years...Don't care how long Brady says he wants to play...The door is closing. They are stacking themselves to make another run while they can.
Per Jeff Howe on twitter: To clarify one note, Hightower rejected the Jets' offer two days ago. He never considered signing there.
Anyone who is going to take this out on the Jets needs to think long and hard about the reality of the situation. The Jets are entering a full blown rebuild. The Pats just won a title and their team got BETTER this offseason. Money was close to equal (diff of about $1.2 mil yearly) so why the hell would Hightower chase a LITTLE more money with no shot at a ring the rest of his prime? Moving along...
If in fact we had more money on the table as was reported then I agree we are way better off he stayed put.
Schefter just said on ESPN that Jets told Hightower that once he left the building they would not do business with him anymore. They have been out of it for 2 days. Breer says the same.
chalk it up as a lesson for Mike Maccagnan.... Players who are losers can be lured to an organization offering more money and stupid gimmicks like cupcakes but players who are winners want you to lure them based on your on-the-field acumen. Not even just in the standings but maybe drop the cupcakes and explain how you intend to win games going forward with a player's services and/or command respect and you'll get it in return. Missing out on Hightower might be a good thing for the Jets brass to learn this lesson.
Wheew, dodged a bullet there. We didn't end up getting F'd in the A by a ridiculous 12mil/year salary and was able to drive the price up on the Pats. Win, win.
To anyone interested in tanking...This is what will happen when we try to acquire quality free agents. We will offer more money than any team and we still can't get them to sign. I for one am happy this did not happen so no biggie here.
Agreed. All these moves and signings are very out of character for the Pats. They sense the end is near and hope to cash in one last time before the well is dry.
According to Albert Breer the Jets pulled their offer after the meeting had concluded with Hightower. Sounds to me Macc wanted him to sign right then and there and when he didn't they opted to move on. A lot of smoke and varying reports out right now
if things like cupcakes are our ways of signing players then we are in trouble in the FO ... hopefully a ploy to see the player's true intentions.
This is how it should be done, put a good offer on the table and take it or leave it. Were not talking about pocket change, multi-million dollar contracts should be take it or leave it at this level of professionalism. I like it that Mac has taken this approach, could we also presume that Woody is letting Mac do the job he hired him to do? Not forcing Mac to overpay just to keep the fans and media happy during free agency Super Bowl?
he got 11 mil a year to stay in NE. sounds to me like NE just wanted other teams to set the market so they didn't overpay. I don't think he had any intentions of leaving.
Really, Hightower had 31 solo tackles and 2 1/2 sacks last year..the guy he would be replacing, Harris, had 62 solo tackles and half a sack and is only on the books for 6.5M this year. There is always next year to find a replacement.
