The New England Patriots got a great deal when they signed starting center David Andrews to a three-year contract extension, according to one former NFL executive.
Joe Banner, who served as president of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1995 to 2012 and CEO of the Cleveland Browns from 2012 to 2013 and now works for ESPN as an analyst, called the reported three-year, $9 million extension “absolutely horrible.”
Banner clarified his tweet, saying it was a bad deal for Andrews, not the Patriots.
Andrews still is set to make $615,000 this season as part of the three-year contract he signed in 2015 as an undrafted free agent. He was scheduled to become a restricted free agent next offseason.
The Patriots would have had a difficult decision to make regarding which tender to place on Andrews as an RFA. A first-round tender would have cost upward of $3.91 million, a second-round tender would have cost upward of $2.746 million, and an original-round tender would have cost upward of $1.797 million.
Since Andrews came into the NFL as an undrafted free agent, it would have been risky to place an original-round tender on him. That would have meant another team could have signed him to an offer sheet, and the Patriots would have received nothing in return if they chose not to match. So it’s likely the Patriots would have been paying Andrews nearly $3 million on a second-round tender in 2018 regardless.
Signing the extension now gives Andrews money a year early and provides job security for the starting center. It’s possible he could have signed for more as an unrestricted free agent in 2019, but that’s still two years away, and he’s set to hit free agency again when he’s just 28 years old.
Thumbnail photo via Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports Images
