A Walk Through Of The Patriots Opt Outs

First it was Danny Vitale, then Marcus Cannon, and now Dont'a Hightower and Patrick Chung have been added to the list of Patriots who will opt out of the 2020 NFL Season. As far as their reasons, there are many, but we aren't here to analyze the validity of their decisions. Let's talk football.

The biggest loss by far is Dont'a Hightower. After free agency and now Hightower's opt out, the Patriots top of the league linebacking core has been whittled down to third year linebacker Ja'Whaun Bentley, second year Terez Hall, free agent acquisition Brandon Copeland, and rookies Josh Uche, Anfernee Jennings, Cassh Maluia, and De'Jon Harris. I have high hopes for Ja'Whaun Bentley. He was the teams best linebacker in 2018 before getting injured. He played in all 16 games last year, but was overshadowed by Kyle Van Noy and Jamie Collins. I think Bentley can be great but he wont be enough to fill the gaping hole that Hightower leaves behind. Linebacker now is the weakest position group on the team.

The hits to the defense didn't stop as Patrick Chung announced he was opting out as well. Chung, who can play in a pseudo linebacking role will be heavily missed as he completed one of the leagues top safety duos. On offense, Marcus Cannon leaves a question mark now at right tackle. And one of the bigger free agency signings in FB Danny Vitale, is now gone before he even got started.

So how can we find a positive in all of that misery? Here's how we try.

No one who has opted out so far is a developmental player. Everyone outside Vitale (who's really not that giant of a concern now with Hightower and Chung) is on the back half of their careers. These aren't guys in their prime who are at the top of their position. They are key pieces to the Patriots nonetheless. What else do they also have in common? Hightower, Chung, and Cannon are all some of the top earners on the team this season. In fact, all three of them's names have been tossed around as far as a surprise cut. So while we are losing three starters we are getting back a boat load of change with it. So if the Patriots choose to let their newly acquired cap space roll over, they will be eve richer in a year they were projected to be near the top of the league in total cap.

With Cannon and Chung, we have 2019 third round pick Yodny Cajuste and our first selection in this years draft, Kyle Dugger. In Belichick's perfect world, rookies sit or throwaway season before they come into the starting role. But we are far from a perfect world at the moment, and that won't be the case this season. There is going to have to be immediate production from guys that yesterday, we didn't think would be hitting the field much.

Dalton Keene, who played a large amount of H-back at Virginia Tech, might be seeing some snaps from the backfield with Vitale out, Dugger's versatility at both safety and linebacker comes into play even more now, and Brandon Bolden's roster spot might be used to house UDFA running back JJ Taylor (who is someone to keep an eyes on to take over for Burkhead next season). So even though we will be missing some of our top contributors, we have an opportunity to see a lot of what the Pats invested their future in. And in the best case scenario, we come away with an upgrade or two.

There is certainly a chance we see Hightower, Chung, and Cannon in 2021. They are all under contract next season, but for now, the Patriots have gotten a lot younger and a lot richer. It sucks at the moment, there's no denying it, but in a season that might end up being a wash, there is always a chance the Patriots come out on top of all this. Believe in Belichick.