Patriots Free Agents: Will Dont’a Hightower Return Next Season?

The New England Patriots have nearly 20 players set to hit free agency when the NFL league year opens March 16. As that date approaches, we’re taking a closer look at each one. Next up: linebacker Dont’a Hightower.

2021 SEASON REVIEW
Hightower started slowly after returning from his 2020 opt-out, but his hard-nosed, physical play helped fuel the Patriots’ midseason seven-game win streak. He routinely would be seen blowing up opposing offensive linemen or decking running backs, living up to his self-appointed “Trash Man” nickname.

In November, head coach Bill Belichick called Hightower one of the Patriots’ “best” and “most consistent” players. Position coach Jerod Mayo called him “the tone-setter.”

“I think he looks probably healthier than he did two or three years ago,” Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel said before his team’s Week 12 matchup with New England. “… He looks as good as I can remember (him) looking.”

Hightower continued to play multiple roles for a New England defense that, for a prolonged stretch, looked like one of the NFL’s best, splitting his time between off-the-ball (68%) and edge (29%) alignments.

The limitations of Hightower’s skill set were evident at times, however, especially late in the season. As a bigger (6-foot-3, 260 pounds), older, more lumbering linebacker, he struggled to keep pace against speedier opponents. The Bills, in particular, were able to exploit this, as Hightower’s Pro Football Focus grades in New England’s two losses to Buffalo were worse than any he’d posted since 2015.

Hightower also finished with the second-highest missed tackle rate of his career — including whiffs on long touchdown runs by Justin Jackson and Jonathan Taylor — and had issues in coverage, allowing 35 catches on 37 targets for 323 yards and one touchdown with no pass breakups, per PFF.

The longtime team co-captain turns 32 four days before free agency opens.

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CASE FOR RE-SIGNING
One of the Patriots’ most important defensive players of the last decade, Hightower still provides value with his intelligence, physicality and leadership, even if he’s not the athlete he once was.

He’d need to be willing to accept less — probably much less — than the $12.4 million salary cap hit he carried this season. But if he is, the three-time Super Bowl hero still can be an impact ‘backer, assuming the Patriots add some younger, faster pieces around him.

CASE AGAINST RE-SIGNING
Mayo said it himself last week: The Patriots need more speed, explosiveness and play-making ability on defense, and that’s especially true at the linebacker position. Bill Belichick has long valued larger linebackers who are stout in the run game, but with the NFL trending more and more toward high-powered passing attacks and mobile quarterbacks, it might be time for a strategy shift.

Hightower also has yet to say whether he plans to play in 2022. With nine seasons under his belt at one of the most physically demanding positions in sports, he could be considering retirement.

Either way, improving their linebacking corps must be an offseason priority for the Patriots. And with Hightower, 6-foot-2, 255-pound Ja’Whaun Bentley and 6-foot-3, 255-pound Jamie Collins all headed for free agency, that group could see a full-on makeover in the coming weeks.