The New England Patriots were able to take care of one of their most crucial players before the start of free agency week. Devin McCourty, a seasoned safety and impending unrestricted free agent has re-signed to a contract reportedly for $9 million over one year.
The agreement will prevent McCourty’s prior contract from becoming null and void on March 16 of the 2022 league year, keeping him with the Patriots for at least one more season. Additionally, keeping McCourty on board helped New England to make some financial savings.
The $1.25 million salary McCourty received with the Patriots was distributed over five years along with a $6.75 million signing bonus and a $1 million roster bonus. On March 1st of next year, the NFL’s 2023 league year, the last four of those years are anticipated to be null and invalid.
McCourty’s salary cap impact is considerably less than his estimated $9 million pay; this season, the 34-year-old will only count $5.75 million against New England’s books.
His cap number would have been $700,000 higher if he had not been re-signed.
McCourty’s prior contract, signed in March 2020, would have lapsed and he would have been an unrestricted free agent if he had not been signed by the start of the 2022 league year.
In that scenario, the Patriots would have been responsible for $6.45 million of the remaining signing bonus from the aforementioned contract.
However, because he has a new contract for another year, the bonus will still be distributed over the following three seasons as it was in 2020.
As a result, both the Patriots and McCourty will be in the same predicament the following season: if his new one-year contract expires, the signing bonuses will together exceed the team’s salary ceiling for 2023. McCourty would cost New England $9.7 million in that scenario.
How Much Does Devin McCourty Make?
Devin McCourty gets paid an average of $9,000,000 per year. McCourty will make $1,250,000 in basic salary, $6,750,000 in signing bonus, and $1,000,000 in roster bonus in 2022, while carrying a $5,750,000 cap hit.