Another day, another loyal guy to Bill Belichick getting a new contract.

A day after DeVante Parker’s new deal, Ja’Whaun Bentley received a two-year, $18.75M max deal from the team that includes $9 million fully guaranteed. Much like the Parker deal, the biggest reason for this new deal is loyalty.

Bill Belichick needs to keep as many guys as possible fully bought in after last year’s debacle and he’s now got two solid players on both sides of the ball locked in for a little while longer. Now, having said that, Bentley probably deserved an extension at this point far more than Parker did. Bentley has become a true leader on the team and one that Belichick often goes to. At times last year Belichick raved about how much Bentley has embraced a leadership role both on and off the field.

It’s widely believed that the defense will undoubtedly be the strength of the team again this year, so why not lock up a guy who not only plays ball with Bill at the negotiating table, but is also one of the key communicators when things get tough on the field. Bentley blew his teammates out of the water in total tackles last season (125 total, Kyle Dugger was second with 78 total) and could make the argument he’s as valuable right now as Judon, Dugger or anyone else.

It’s hard to believe, but Bentley is entering his seventh season already and could just be hitting his stride now when it comes to being an elite linebacker particularly in the run game, I go back to the communication part of this and keeping as many of the same voices on that side of the ball is critical as Bill Belichick has taken a few years to build this defense back up. Bentley has just kept his head down, gone about his job, become a leader and now, he’s earned himself a little bump from the guy who desperately needs as much continuity as he can get heading into training camp.

The one fear I would have is that these contracts mean that the Hopkins thing is dead or dying. He’s obviously going to wait until August – and in fairness we don’t know the real money yet on these new deals – but these little deals seem to indicate ‘moving on’ and allocating money towards other needs instead of holding onto it for the big splash. Of course, the cap can always be maneuvered as many teams have shown us, so hopefully this doesn’t spell the end of the talent upgrade.

Either way, it’s hard to not be frustrated or angry with this new Bentley deal when this team needs as many guys buying in on the same page as possible.