Patriots Reportedly Want To Bring Back Joe Thuney
BOSTON (CBS) -- The belief in New England has been that Joe Thuney would not be back with the Patriots next season, as the guard is set to cash in as a free agent. He's the best guard available on the market, and is expected to be paid as such, which usually means that New England is out of the running before the free agent race even begins.
The Patriots used their franchise tag on Thuney last year, and the two sides never discussed a long-term extension during the 2020 season. But that has changed with the 2021 NFL offseason upon us.
According to SI's Albert Breer, the Patriots and Thuney started to discuss a return last week after the team acquired Trent Brown via trade:
It seemed the Patriots were resigned to Thuney's 2021 departure after tagging him last March—they had very minimal discussions on a long-term deal with him thereafter, and no progress had been made right up to when the Patriots agreed to deal for Trent Brown last week. But since then, the lines of communication have reopened, and the Patriots have expressed that they'd like to keep Thuney. Whether the sides can meet on a price remains to be seen.
Thuney is still in line to get a massive deal this offseason, so it will be interesting to see what the contract looks like if the two sides come to an agreement. It's still extremely likely that Thuney is protecting a quarterback somewhere other than New England, with the Patriots' priority likely on re-signing free agent center David Andrews.
New England has roughly $65 million in cap space to work with this offseason, but the team has several other needs up and down the roster. And if Thuney gets a monster offer from another team, the Patriots will probably fall back on its strong offensive line depth and let the guard walk.
Thuney may not be going far if he signs elsewhere, either. The New York Jets are expected to jump into the Thuney sweepstakes, and have a ton of cap space to make a run at him. Brian Flores and his Miami Dolphins are also expected to target some New England free agents this offseason, and could also pry Thuney away from the Patriots.
