I'm More Convinced Than Ever Dont'a Hightower Will Return to the Patriots

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The Patriots just held their second OTAs session that was open to the media, and the last until late June. I'd kind of hoped to be there but couldn't make it, due to the more pressing matter of sitting around all Memorial Day drinking hoppy lagers and eating animal flesh cooked outdoors instead of making the arrangements. Good on me, since by all accounts it was the least eventful practice anyone there can ever remember. It sounded like sort of combination walk-through/no-impact aerobics workout, one step above an elementary school rehearsal for The Velveteen Rabbit in terms of intensity. 

If you're keeping track of such things (and if you are, take a class at the rec center or read a classic book or something to better yourself), it seems as though Joe Judge (QBs coach) is calling passing plays and Matt Patricia (O-line) is in charge of run plays. And if the call is a Run/Pass Option, I guess they buck up for it. Either way, the arrangement should keep those defensive coordinators where they belong: On the defensive.

Be that as it may, the true excitement of the day came from the Q&A portions. Malcolm Butler said he has a lot to prove. Tyquan Thornton talked about how he's working on using his arms more in his routes. I mean, I watched him run his 4.28 at the Combine and don't remember him running with them down by his sides like Michael Flatley in Riverdance. But if Troy Brown tells you to flap your arms like a pterodactyl or do a chug-a chug-a motion like a railroad train now, you goddamned shut yer trap and do like he says if you know what's good for you, mister. 

To me though, the key part of the day was, as usual, hearing Bill Belichick. Specifically when he was asked about Josh Uche entering his third year, and whether he might be moved around the formation, lined up in different slots along the Front-7 to attack from different angles, the way Dont'a Hightower was. And the answer was telling. 

“I think it’s a stretch to compare most anybody to Hightower," he said. We're talking about one of the best linebackers that’s ever played here." 

Then when asked the obvious follow up about whether Hightower might be brought back, he reverted to his go-to conversation killer this time of year. “We’ll just talk about the players that are on the team right now,” Belichick said. 

But that first line was to me the most revealing. It revealed to me what I've believed all along is correct. That Hightower will be back. Just later, rather than sooner. 

This came up back in early March, when Do Your Pod guest Mike Giardi reported that all four of the Patriots key veterans who were expected to at least consider retirement intended to play this year. Elsewhere, if not here:

And I took time out from filling out my brackets and making St. Paddy's Day plans to write a semi-coherent blog about why those four matter. (Disregard the Bobby Wagner matter. Swing and a miss by Judon and me on him.)

Needless to say, Devin McCourty, Matthew Slater and James White are all back in Foxboro. As we enter June, only Hightower remains unsigned. And while you might argue that he had one of his worst games in memory against Buffalo in the playoffs, I'm going to ask you why you're arguing. We're just two people trying to have a conversation, so relax. But you'd be right. Pro Football Focus gave him an overall grade of 29.6 in that one. And a 43.8 against the run, which was 17th worst on a defense that couldn't force a punt. 

But still, it makes no sense to define Hightower on one game. No one disagrees with the premise that this defense needed to get younger, faster and more athletic. And hopefully the solutions are already on the roster. But that doesn't mean there's no place for Hightower, given that he played close to 700 snaps last year and was tied for fourth on the team in tackles (with McCourty) and was fifth in pressures. Just as importantly, he's part of that aforementioned group of leaders, that Core 4, who bridge the gap between the last three championships (2014, '16, '18), with the next one (202?). To pass down the tribal wisdom that has been passed down through the linebacker generations. That lore he learned from the elders. From Willie McGinest to Tedy Bruschi to Jerod Mayo to him. Which he can continue to impart unto Uche, Ju'Whaun Bentley, Raekwon MacMillan, Anfernee Jennings, Ronnie Perkins and Cameron McGrone, among others. 

I am therefore convinced, as I have been all offseason, he'll be back. That these last few months of him remaining a free agent have just been him getting some well-earned veteran's time off. There's precedent here of guys Belichick knows, trusts and respects doing likewise. Beginning with Bryan Cox back in 2001. That he was following Belichick from the Jets to Foxboro was the league's worst kept secret all summer. But he officially "signed" in the middle of camp, took the few days he needed to work his way back into playing shape, but needed no time at all to get acclimated to the system, because he had it memorized. Junior Seau (RIP) got the same break a couple of times. And there are other examples, I'm sure. It's just that Belichick will give a veteran who's earned it that break, but just not if they're already signed. Then it would set a bad precedent that could permeate the entire roster. 

The fact Hightower hasn't caught on anywhere else, hasn't announced his retirement, and that Belichick shows respect with man's name in his mouth, tells me all we need to know. I give it plus or minus one week from the first day of camp, and the guy who is arguably the second best Patriots player of the Dynast Era (I say McCourty but a good case can be made for either) will be back. The Buffalo game notwithstanding, I hope to see it happen. Just in a more limited role than in year's past. Then, in 2023, he becomes a position coach after Mayo ends up as a head coach come place. You heard it here first.