Dolphins swipe Patriots veteran leader in revenge move
By Adam Weinrib
After the Patriots brought LB Kyle Van Noy back into the fold, the Dolphins have clearly chosen to operate based on the age-old principle of “an eye for an eye.”
Unfortunately, an ending we certainly saw coming a few weeks ago has come to fruition on Thursday, but with an unfortunate twist.
Did we expect Jason McCourty to leave New England? Absolutely. He’d been shopping around for weeks, and was in and out of the New York Giants locker room prior to the draft.
Did we expect Brian Flores to snag him, too, and keep him in the division? Ugh. Not necessarily.
Just a few hours after the Dolphins cut a captain in a bizarre move that reeked of upsetting the apple cart (a la their handling of Van Noy), they’ve signed McCourty to take his place.
It’s a level of pettiness even Bill Belichick has to respect as this rivalry ramps up.
It’s a 1-year deal for the leader in the secondary. https://t.co/G7nf4djIJx
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 6, 2021
The Miami Dolphins struck back by signing former Patriots DB Jason McCourty.
Flores, the current Dolphins head coach and ex-Patriots defensive schemer, certainly remains a kindred spirit for former New England defenders, and was able to witness first-hand the type of impact that McCourty (and his brother) had in Foxborough.
The definition of a winning player whose summed-up parts are worth more than his individual skills, McCourty will probably be best known among Patriots fans for his insane center-to-left-field chase-down in the end zone against the Los Angeles Rams in the Super Bowl, a play you simply can’t diagram up.
It makes perfect sense, too, that McCourty moved on post-draft, once the Patriots were no longer able to glean a compensatory pick for his services. Checkmate, Flores.
Effective at 4 PM ET, unrestricted free agents that sign with a new team no longer count towards the NFL’s compensatory pick formula.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) May 3, 2021
Amongst those available: Richard Sherman, Justin Houston, Alejandro Villanueva, Russell Okung, Melvin Ingram, K.J. Wright & Jason McCourty.
Though McCourty only spent three years in New England and his brother remains a force in the region, we thank him for his service and his Super Bowl stardom, and we hope he doesn’t summon some extra strength twice a year when he sees Pat Patriot lined up across from him.
And hey, if it doesn’t work out? We’ll take him off your hands midseason, Van Noy-style.
