Patriots WR Danny Amendola Takes Paycut
Veteran wide receiver Danny Amendola has agreed to reduce his pay for the 2017 season, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Amendola had been scheduled to earn a $6MM base salary, but he’ll now bring in “slightly more” than the $1.6MM salary he earned in 2016, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
This restructure marks the third consecutive season that Amendola has reduced his base salary. In each of the past two occasions, Amendola has agreed to a paycut in exchange for additional guaranteed money. He’ll likely be given similar guarantees this time around, enabling him to stay on the New England roster for a fifth year. Mike Reiss of ESPN.com wrote last month that Amendola was never expected to maintain his current salary, especially after the Patriots acquired fellow pass-catcher Brandin Cooks.
Amendola, 31, appeared in 12 games for New England in 2016, and posted 23 receptions for 243 yards and four touchdowns while playing on roughly a quarter of the club’s offensive snaps. Given the presence of Cooks, Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan, and Malcolm Mitchell, Amendola could see that snap percentage fall even further in 2017.
Patriots Sign Bills RB Mike Gillislee To Offer Sheet
The Patriots have signed Bills restricted free agent running back Mike Gillislee to an offer sheet, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. The deal is worth $6.4MM over two years, and contains $4MM in year one, per Rapoport. Buffalo now has five days to match the Patriots’ offer, and while the Bills haven’t yet made a final decision, they “don’t believe” they’ll match the sheet, tweets Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald.
New England hosted Gillislee — and fellow RFA back Damien Williams — on a visit last week, and the club has now further signaled its interest in the 25-year-old Gillislee. Buffalo, suprisingly, only tendered Gillislee at the original round level (at a cost of $1.797MM). Because Gillislee was drafted in the fifth round, the Patriots would only have to sacrifice a fifth-rounder in order to sign him away. The Bills have the option of matching the contract, but for another $1MM or so, the Bills could have placed the second-round tender on Gillislee and likely warded off any potential suitors.
The Patriots already have a stocked backfield after adding free agent Rex Burkhead to a depth chart that includes Dion Lewis, James White, Brandon Bolden, and D.J. Foster. But that hasn’t stopped New England from pursuing other options, as they’ve been linked to veteran Adrian Peterson in recent weeks. The Pats also reportedly have an offer on the table for LeGarrette Blount, who scored 16 touchdowns for the club in 2016.
The Bills, meanwhile, currently have less than $10MM in cap space, meaning matching the Patriots’ terms could be a problem. Losing Gillislee, who averaged an NFL-best 5.7 yards per carry on 101 attempts last season, would leave Buffalo with Jonathan Williams, Mike Tolbert, and Joe Banyard as depth pieces behind starter LeSean McCoy.
Latest On LeGarrette Blount
The Patriots‘ offer to running back LeGarrette Blount may not be on the table forever, according to Mike Reiss of ESPN.com. New England has met with other free agent backs in recent weeks, including Adrian Peterson, Damien Williams, and Mike Gillislee, perhaps in an effort to send a signal to Blount. Blount hasn’t generated any interest elsewhere, which is what he’d need to do in order to force the Patriots to up their proposal. As Reiss notes, the 2017 RB draft class is considered exceptionally strong, so Blount may want to ink a new contract with the Pats before the club selects a runner in the draft later this month.
Draft Deadline For Malcolm Butler Trade?
April 27 — the first day of the 2017 NFL draft — is the likely deadline for a Malcolm Butler trade, as the Patriots probably won’t deal Butler for 2018 picks, according to Ben Volin of the Boston Globe.
The Saints, of course, have shown extreme interest in Butler, bringing in the restricted free agent cornerback for a visit and beginning work on a contract negotiation. New Orleans doesn’t intend to propose an offer sheet to Butler, however, as doing so would cost the club the No. 11 pick if the Patriots declined to match the terms. A trade could still be worked out, but Butler needs to sign his RFA tender first.
Butler has until April 21 to ink an offer sheet with another club. New England can still trade him after that point, but he needs to be under contract to be dealt. Butler will earn $3.91MM under the terms of his RFA tender, but if he doesn’t sign by June 15, the Patriots can reduce his salary to $600K.
New England has been linked to other defensive backs this offseason, including Seattle’s Richard Sherman (whom the Patriots are now not expected to trade for). Recently released cornerback Jason McCourty, too, may be on the Pats’ radar, but New England probably won’t add another corner unless Butler isn’t part of their 2017 plans.
Hightower's Deal Filled With Incentives
- Dont’a Hightower has bonuses of $54K per game during each contest within the four-year deal he signed to stay with the Patriots, Ben Volin of the Boston Globe reports. Hightower also has $2MM per year in incentives that are largely tied to playing time. The middle linebacker would receive $375K if he played in 65 percent of the Pats’ snaps, plus separate $250K incentives for 70 and 75 percent snap counts. Another $125K would come Hightower’s way if he took part in 80 percent of New England’s defensive plays. This seems to tie into the kind of health-based concerns the Jets and Steelers had when considering (and offering) Hightower. He played in just more than 67 percent of New England’s defensive snaps last season.
Devin McCourty Wants Brother To Join Patriots
The Patriots appear to be a natural fit for recently-released cornerback Jason McCourty. Predictably, you can count brother (and current Patriots defensive back) Devin McCourty among those who’d like to see him land in New England.
Devin believes his brother should be seeking a gig that would allow him to start, which might not be possible in New England. If the Patriots end up keeping Malcolm Butler, McCourty would presumably slot in behind him and free agent-addition Stephon Gilmore on the depth chart.
Breer: McCourty Has Logical Path To Pats
Several connections between the Patriots, Titans and Jason McCourty point to the recently released cornerback having a logical route to New England. Bill Belichick‘s relationship with Tennessee GM Jon Robinson, along with McCourty having played for Belichick friend Greg Schiano at Rutgers help Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com (video link via CSNNE.com) see a reasonable chance the parties unite. Of course, the obvious driving force here is twin brother Devin McCourty residing in the Patriots’ secondary. The Pats looked into trading for McCourty at the 2015 trade deadline. Due to these relationships, and the fact that Jason McCourty will be much cheaper, makes him a better fit for the Patriots than expensive trade-block defender Richard Sherman in Breer’s eyes.
- McCourty would be an insurance policy if the Patriots traded Malcolm Butler, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com writes. He would become the Pats’ No. 2 corner if Butler ventured elsewhere as a restricted free agent, Reiss notes. We’re at a bit of a standstill on the Butler-to-Saints discussion, but Breer noted earlier this week there’s a slightly better chance the RFA corner ends up on the Saints than Patriots in 2017.
- Butler’s RFA price — a first-round tender — will make a Jason McCourty/Pats union unrealistic, Ryan Hannable of WEEI.com writes. Hannable expects Butler to play on that $3.91MM tender after signing it, believing no team will give up its first-round pick for a cornerback who isn’t a lock to re-sign. Of course, the Saints’ talks are believed to be based on the premise the sides would work out a different deal than New Orleans forking over its No. 11 overall pick. Other teams are almost certainly going to pursue the 29-year-old McCourty as well.
Patriots Host Giants DE Kerry Wynn On Visit
The Patriots seem to be getting really into restricted free agents. On Wednesday, New England hosted RFA defensive end Kerry Wynn on a visit, a source tells Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Wynn received the low tender from the Giants last month. 
[RELATED: Patriots Host Mike Gillislee, Damien Williams On Visit]
Because Wynn entered the league as an undrafted free agent, the Giants would not receive a draft pick in the event of an unmatched offer sheet. If Wynn is not signed away, he’ll play on a one-year, $1.797MM deal with the Giants in 2017.
The Patriots also hosted restricted free agent running backs Mike Gillislee and Damien Williams on visits this week, so the always forward-thinking Pats could be giving serious thought to signing some RFAs this year. Typically, there isn’t much activity on RFAs in the NFL, but the Patriots are leaving no stone unturned in their quest for another ring.
Unlike Gillislee, Wynn hasn’t shown a whole lot at the NFL level. Last season, he saw his playing time drop off and he had just eight total tackles and half of a sack in 14 games.
Latest On Adrian Peterson
Things might be looking up for Adrian Peterson. The veteran running back impressed the Patriots in his recent workout as he looked fast and explosive, Ed Werder of ESPN.com hears (Twitter link). Werder adds that the Saints might look to sign him before the draft, if the two sides can agree on money. Meanwhile, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter) says a deal is not expected to come together in the next couple of weeks.
The Saints were the third club to host Peterson this offseason, following meetings with Seahawks and Patriots. The Saints reportedly did not put Peterson through a workout, but it sounds like they have real interest in signing him anyway. Adding Peterson before the draft would allow the Saints to put even more focus on building the defense and would give them a strong 1-2 combo with Mark Ingram.
The Saints can only spend so much for Peterson, but at this point, the running back probably can’t do much better than a one-year deal with a modest base salary. At least with the Saints, Peterson can see a realistic path to contention, even though they’re coming off of a challenging 2016.
Photo via Pro Football Rumors on Instagram.
Patriots Host Mike Gillislee, Damien Williams
The Patriots got a double dose of restricted free agent running backs on Wednesday. The Patriots hosted Bills RFA RB Mike Gillislee and Dolphins RFA RB Damien Williams, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com and Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter links).
The Bills surprised many in the football world when they assigned Gillislee an original round/right of first refusal tender, which would only entitle them to a fifth-round pick if they did not match an offer sheet. For another $1MM or so, the Bills could have placed the second-round tender on Gillislee and that probably would have kept every potential suitor at bay. Gillislee averaged an NFL-best 5.7 yards per carry on 101 attempts as LeSean McCoy‘s understudy.
Williams, 25, was eclipsed by Jay Ajayi in Miami last year. Ultimately, he finished out with 35 carries for 115 yards (3.3 yards per carry average) and three touchdowns. Although the Dolphins would like to keep him, they would be able to get by just fine with Ajayi and Kenyan Drake holding down the RB position. They can also replenish the RB group in the late rounds of this year’s draft.
It’s fair to wonder whether the Patriots’ interest in either player is sincere. Already, the Pats have free agent addition Rex Burkhead, Dion Lewis, James White, D.J. Foster, and Branden Bolden on the roster and LeGarrette Blount remains available. The Patriots could be taking a real look at guys like Gillislee, Williams, and Adrian Peterson, but they could also be faking it to put additional pressure on Blount to re-sign. It doesn’t sound like Blount has much of an outside market for his services, so that could be an effective strategy for New England.