Devin McCourty "surprised" that Patriots didn't sign Jakobi Meyers
BOSTON -- When the details of Jakobi Meyers' contract with the Raiders were reported, many fans in New England were surprised that the Patriots didn't give that same deal to the receiver. You can count Devin McCourty among them.
The recently retired safety is likely transitioning into a career in broadcast media, which means he'll be doling out his opinions on a regular basis. And on Wednesday morning on WEEI's The Greg Hill Show, McCourty said he was shocked to see the details on Meyers' deal.
"I will say, what I was surprised [about], was Jakobi. I thought what Jakobi signed for, for the Raiders was like ... eh," McCourty said. "Like he was our most productive receiver the last two years, and this year he missed I think two or three games and still was head and shoulders our most productive guy in an offensive system that loves having a guy that can work short routes inside, intermediate routes vertically on third down as the guy usually on third down. So when I saw what he signed for, I was kinda like damn. Like, I thought that would've been a kind of easy contract to bring him back here, and he's a guy that from talking to him, I think he wanted to be back here."
Despite being the best wide receiver available in free agency, Meyers only landed a three-year, $33 million deal with the Raiders, with $21 million of that being guaranteed. Really, only $11 million of that deal might be guaranteed, as the Raiders could get out of the deal before next season.
McCourty said that on top of Meyers' production, his mere presence in the locker room was a huge asset for the Patriots. Now, coaches won't have a receiver to point to as the ultimate role model for the rest of the team.
"I thought from a leadership standpoint going forward, he's like that guy if I'm a coach, I'm saying, 'Be like Jakobi. Undrafted guy, earned it, works his butt off every single day. Everything we said was a weakness for him, he continues to work at it. And the things that we say are his strengths, he just continues to master. Like, be like him.' So I think that's a big loss," McCourty said. "Not a very vocal guy, but he's a guy that you say, be like him. Very similar in the mold of [Julian] Edelman. Like, be like him. Come down and crack the safety, which I know you don't like doing, but we're gonna make you crack 10 times in this game, because it's key to winning. Jakobi did that. So I think that was a big loss.
"Yeah, like that shocked me."
