S Devin McCourty Free Agency Fits: Bears, Falcons, Patriots
Devin McCourty is one of the elite safeties in the NFL and he’ll command a huge price on the open market. He has no holes in his game; McCourty excels against both the pass and the run. With a weak safety class in the upcoming draft, teams are going to throw huge sums of money at McCourty for his services. I’ve pulled out three teams that would be a great fit for McCourty.
Chicago Bears
The Bears could use an upgrade on the backend of their defense that was awful in 2014. Chicago ranked 30th in the league in terms of opposing yards per pass attempt (8.1 YPA). Chris Conte should be upgraded this offseason and McCourty would be the perfect man to take his spot.
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As Chicago transfers to a 3-4 defense, not having to worry about secondary (as much) while the front seven goes through expected growing pains would be ideal for the Bears.
Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons have the cap space to potentially make a number of free agency moves. Signing Devin McCourty would be an ideal fit for new head coach Dan Quinn’s scheme.
Quinn’s scheme that he’s bringing over from Seattle leaves the safety in a lot of single high situations, which means the Falcons are going to need a safety who has good range, instincts, and can make stops in the run game. McCourty would be a perfect fit in Dan Quinn’s scheme.
New England Patriots
Of course, McCourty could still return to New England. The Patriots recently used their franchise tag on kicker Stephen Gostowski, but I doubt they would do that if they weren’t already closing in on a long term deal with their prized safety.
McCourty is an essential piece to the Patriots defense and Bill Belichick will be hard pressed to let one of his defensive chess pieces leave to another team. You build consistent championship contenders through the draft, and the Patriots can’t afford to have homegrown talent like McCourty go.