New England Patriots reach contract with first-round pick Devin McCourty
First-round draft pick Devin McCourty signed a five-year contract with the New England Patriots on Wednesday. McCourty, taken with the 27th overall pick, became just the second first-round draft pick to agree to a contract. Dez Bryant, chosen 24th by the Dallas Cowboys, is the other.
The former standout cornerback who played at Rutgers University, received a deal worth $13.2 million with $7.825 million guaranteed, according to his agent Andy Simms. Patriots rookies were sheduled to report Sunday, but the first team workout is set for Thursday morning. McCourty, who is expected to contribute on special teams and in the Patriots' secondary, signed his contract at about 7 a.m.
"We worked pretty late (Tuesday) to get to this point," Simms said. "We know what's important in New England and that's to get to camp on time."
With McCourty’s Hancock on the doted line, the Patriots have accomplished their goal of having all 12 choices under contract by the start of training camp. That's 12 more newcomers for coach Bill Belichick to mold into professionals as he tries to replace older guys who helped win Super Bowl championships with young blood
The negotiations took place with the possibility of a lockout in 2011 if management and the players' union can't agree on a new collective bargaining agreement.
"The pending labour situation is something we had to consider," Simms said. "We worked with the Patriots on some of the issues."
McCourty is expected to challenge Darius Butler, the 41st overall draft pick last year, for a starting gig in the Patriot’s questionable secondary. Butler started five of the 14 games in which he played last season and made three interceptions.
It is no secret that New England’s secondary is not among the best in the NFL at stopping the pass. Although they have players who fly to the ball, tackling and filling their gap responsabilities appear to be cause for concern. The last time New England had a lockdown corner was when the Pats had Ty Law or more recently Asante Samuel.
With the departure of these two elite corners, Law a free agent and Samuels a member of the Philadelphia Eagles, the Patriots appear to be lacking a cornerback that can cause problems for opposing teams. Coach Belichick hopes that McCourty can step in and improve the defence. In four seasons at Rutgers, McCourty had six interceptions and started the last 39 games at cornerback. He also blocked six punts and a field-goal attempt.
New England’s defence ranked 12th in the league, out oif the 32 teams, in passing yards allowed, averaging 207.9 per game. Leigh Bodden, who's entering his eighth NFL season and second with the Patriots, is the team's other starting cornerback.
But Belichick knows how to utilize a rookie’s strength and is one of the best at placing young talent in a position where they can excel and do great things.
Safety Brandon Meriweather, a first-round pick in 2007, had a strong season. Linebacker Jerod Mayo, a first-rounder in 2008, played well although not as well as when he was named defensive rookie of the year by The Associated Press.
Rookies Julian Edelman, Patrick Chung, Darius Butler, Sebastian Vollmer and Myron Pryor all played quite a bit last season and will be looking to improve in the second year.
The Patriots will need their corners to suddenly step up and stop opposing quaterbacks from spreading the ball around to their playmakers. Their first test will come in the opener on September 12, as the Pats will face two of the NFL's best receivers in Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson and newly acquired Pro Bowl wideout, Terrell Owens.
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