New England Patriots: 5 Free Agents They Must Re-Sign

1 – Dont’a Hightower

Identified as one of the big three young defensive stars that the team just had to re-sign after 2014, Hightower is the one player left from that original group. He has since been joined by Malcolm Butler as having that status but as the pending unrestricted free agent, Hightower is far and away the team’s top priority to re-sign.

Any questions about his value to the team in terms of games missed due to injuries have been eradicated by his ability to produce big plays at the most critical moments in a season. To maximize his value, his agents will most likely lead off negotiations by showing footage of his goal line stop of Marshawn Lynch in Super Bowl XLIX plus his game shifting strip sack of Matt Ryan in Super Bowl LI as evidence that when the team needs him to step up, he does.

Despite some comments made in the last fortnight that suggest he is looking forward to cashing in during free agency and wanting to get out of the cold, it is hard to see Hightower lining up anywhere but in the middle of the Patriots defense next year. He will join the line of players such as Mayo and McCourty who have been kept around because they played well and did all the right things. Hightower is the leading candidate to get the franchise tag if no deal is reached before he hits the open market because it is clear that Belichick knows what he has in this player and values those qualities.