By John Sarianides

The Patriots have decided not to place the franchise tag on inside linebacker Dont’a Hightower. Had they placed the tag on Hightower, he would have made over $14.7 million dollars in 2017.

So what does this mean? It means that Hightower is going to hit the open market and if the Patriots want to retain him, they are going to have to compete for him.

New England is willing to compete for Hightower’s services but they will only go so far. There is a reason Bill Belichick didn’t slap the tag on Hightower. He doesn’t want to commit over $10 million dollars a year to an inside linebacker. It is not that he does not value Hightower, because he does. It’s just that Belichick doesn’t want to overpay a linebacker.

I don’t doubt that the Patriots will attempt to re-sign Hightower but I also don’t think they’ll get into a bidding war for his services.

New England will face stiff competition from teams like Cleveland and San Francisco which are flushed with cap space and ready to use it. I can see the 49ers offering Hightower a contract they know the Patriots won’t match.

That contract could be a five year deal worth $60 million dollars with $25-$28 million guaranteed. If that is the case, the Patriots will not match it. They will let Hightower walk.

Belichick has won enough in this town that he can afford to let a player like Hightower walk and survive the criticism. Belichick can roll the dice and let Hightower get to free agency. If he re-signs, great. If he doesn’t, Belichick and his coaching staff will coach the next man up. It is about the system, not the player in New England. In “Bill We Trust”.

Either way you look at it, I think Hightower is a goner. If the Patriots wanted to pay him, they would have tagged him and negotiated a new deal with him.

It is not out of the realm of possibility that they re-sign Hightower. We saw this two years ago with Devin McCourty. Hightower isn’t McCourty however. He doesn’t play a position Belichick values and that is what this all comes down to.