Throughout the Patriots' twenty years of dominance in the NFL, several players left the team prematurely, either by their own choice or at the behest of Bill Belichick. That has become an even bigger topic since Tom Brady chose to sign with the Buccaneers in 2020, which then created a domino effect of legendary players leaving the team in the years that followed.
Their departures, or even retirements, have revealed a lot about their tenures in New England, such as Julian Edelman sharing that he almost signed with the Giants, or the shocking agreed-upon trade with the Lions for Rob Gronkowski. But now we're hearing about another devastating move that would have significantly altered the Patriots' legacy had it happened.
The latest reveal comes from special teams great Matthew Slater, who retired after the 2023 season and spent last year on Jerod Mayo's staff in Foxboro. It's hard to imagine a Patriots team without perhaps the greatest special teamer in league history, but it was a possibility at one point.
Matthew Slater joins the list of legendary Patriots who almost left the team during their dynastic run
The beloved Patriots legend shared his story about almost leaving the team during a recent appearance on Edelman and Gronkowski's podcast, "Dudes on Dudes," last week.
Slater stated that contract negotiations were not going the way he had hoped in 2017, and he felt he needed to explore his options, so he took a visit with the Steelers and enjoyed his time there. But once Belichick caught wind of it, he got on the phone and eventually worked out a deal to keep Slater on the team for the next seven seasons.
Although it's unsurprising that a player would seek out their potential options to sign elsewhere when contract talks go awry, it's almost unfathomable that a player like Slater would have ever dealt with that reality, given how important special teams were to Belichick.
He had been a fan favorite since he took over the third unit and led them to dominance to the point of forcing every team in the league to invest in their special teams just to keep up. It's why his retirement was so heartbreaking and why his joining Mayo's staff was so exciting for most in New England.
The thought that Slater might not have been a lifelong Patriot is absurd to even consider. Fortunately, that's not what happened, just like with Edelman, and we can be thankful he was on the team to help win another Super Bowl and further solidify their greatness.