“As a Patriots fan, it’s always bittersweet to see such an iconic player announce his retirement, but I couldn’t be happier for Devin, Michelle, and the McCourty family or more thankful to his mother, Phyllis,” Patriots owner Robert Kraft said in a statement from the team. “Through his individual performance and overall leadership, Devin has been such an important part of the success we have enjoyed over the past 13 seasons, including each of our last three Super Bowl championships. As great as his contributions were on the field, he made an even greater impact in the community, taking a leadership role in his advocacy for finding a cure for sickle cell anemia, effecting legislative change for criminal justice reform, and championing countless other educational and economical advancement initiatives. We couldn’t have asked for a better leader and ambassador, both on and off the field.”
“It is a rare group of players who win games at a historic rate, exude team culture, lead, win awards, and win championships,” head coach Bill Belichick added. “And then there is Devin McCourty. Devin did all of those things as a player and more. But, what I think of first when I think of Devin is the type of man he is, his character, his values and how high he raised the bar for spreading goodness and justice in the community. For 13 years, Devin made everyone in our organization feel better and be better because of who he is – a pillar of professionalism, unselfishness, work ethic, preparation, intelligence and performance. I am excited to see him bring those same traits to his next chapter and brighten the lives of even more people.”
In addition to his impact on the field, McCourty has been an important voice in the Patriots’ organization both in a football and non-football sense. He was a 12-time team captain, and off the field played a leading role working with a number of charitable efforts including the Tackle Sickle Cell initiative he started with his brother Jason.
With McCourty moving on, the need at safety becomes more emphasized for the Patriots. They do have Kyle Dugger, Adrian Phillips, and Joshuah Bledsoe returning, with Jarbrill Peppers a pending free agent. However, all of those players are primarily box safeties, while McCourty played almost exclusively deep.
Luckily for the Patriots this is a deep safety class. We covered some of the top players available here.
