Joe Thuney Signs Franchise Tender, Becomes Highest-Paid Player On Patriots
BOSTON (CBS) -- Joe Thuney is now a rich young man. The guard has signed his franchise tender with the New England Patriots, Thuney's agent announced Thursday, bumping him up quite a bit on New England's financial ledger.
In signing his tender, Thuney now sits as the highest-paid member of the 2020 New England Patriots. Thuney is set to make a base salary of $14.78 million in 2020, ahead of Stephon Gilmore's $10.5 million base salary (the corner will carry an $18.670 million cap hit with his bonuses), according to Spotrac.com. Thuney replaces Tom Brady as the team's highest-paid player, with Brady's $23 million salary the highest on New England's books in 2019. Brady, as you may have heard, is no longer the QB of the NEP.
Getting tagged gives Thuney a nice raise from last season, when he made a shade under $2 million. The 27-year-old has earned $3.615 million over his three-year career.
The Patriots now have until July 15 to work out a long-term deal with Thuney. There's still a chance they could trade the guard, though they probably want to make sure the offensive line is solid in 2020 given all the uncertainty at the quarterback position.
