By Jordan Long
The New England Patriots haven’t made a lot of noise in free agency so far. They are going to keep one of their top safeties, Patrick Chung, agreeing to a contract extension which will pay him $11.5 million over the next three seasons. This keeps Chung in New England until 2020.
Chung has been one of their defensive leaders and spent 8 of his 9 NFL seasons with the Patriots. In that time Chung has helped the defense. When a receiver or a running back is running with the football, Chung rarely misses tackling them in the open field. He can cover on passing plays as well. Last season he had 84 tackles, 9 pass breakups, and 1 interception. In his career Chung has 424 total tackles. Quarterbacks must be careful throwing to his part of the field because he has the ability to bat passes away and pick them off with 10 interceptions. Chung also comes on safety blitzes with 4 sacks.
The Patriots know how important he is to this defense. If they didn’t agree to this extension, Chung could have tested free agency next season. A lot of NFL teams would be calling his number because of how he plays on the field. They might have overpaid for him to join their team. There are not a lot of safeties that play the game the way Chung does.
The Patriots didn’t want to risk losing him as a defensive leader. They know they may not find another safety in the draft or free agency who plays like him. The Patriots needed to agree to this extension. Chung is going to help this defense be back as one of the top ones in the NFL. The Patriots are hoping he is part of another Super Bowl victory.
Leave a Reply