Curran: Is this the end for Dont’a Hightower in New England? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The New England Patriots have 18 players set to become free agents when the new league year begins March 16. We’ll be covering each of the notable names with an analysis of where they stand in their respective careers, and whether we can expect them to return to Foxboro in 2022.
Patriots free agent evaluations: Devin McCourty
Next up, Dont’a Hightower.
Position: Linebacker
Age this season: 32
2021 salary: $8.875M
2021 games played: 15
Summary
Coming back from a 2020 COVID opt-out, Dont’a Hightower was one of the most expensive Patriots in 2021. He had a $12.4M cap hit and an $8.875M base salary as he played out the last year of his deal signed in 2017 (four years, $33.5M with $17M guaranteed)
He played 58.8 percent of the Patriots’ defensive snaps had 64 tackles, 1.5 sacks, one tackle for loss, four quarterback hits and one pass breakup.
The salary cap website OverTheCap.com does a…