Jones: Patriots Must Re-Sign Young Stars
BOSTON (CBS) --- Free agency talk in New England has begun. Following last off season's drama surrounding Darrelle Revis and Devin McCourty, the team has even bigger decisions to make over the next year. Young stars Dont'a Hightower, Jamie Collins, Chandler Jones and Malcolm Butler are all set to hit free agency after the 2016 season, and will need to be taken care of sooner rather than later.
Adam Jones and Rich Keefe discussed what New England should do about its long list of impact players set to hit free agency.
While losing Darrelle Revis to free agency last offseason stung at the time, Jones believes what the Patriots do with their young defensive players moving forward is far more important. They need to be re-signed to justify letting Revis go.
"You gotta keep the young guys on defense to really, truly get the Darrelle Revis decision right," said Jones. "You could've had Macolm Butler and Darrelle Revis in the secondary."
Both Jones and Keefe agreed that it is unlikely that the Patriots will be able to keep everyone under contract, as they will all command big-time contracts. If the Patriots are able to keep at least three of their stars, however, they will be just fine.
"I would love them all back but all of them aren't coming back and I'd take three out of four," said Jones. "Anything less than that is not satisfactory when it comes to the Revis decision and when it comes to just having this team compete and compete for a long time on the defensive side of the football."
Jones and Keefe also discussed the Patriots' other moves in free agency, including the likely departure of Jerod Mayo.
