Dont'a Hightower -- a 3-time Super Bowl champion and one of the leaders of the Patriots' defense -- has also chosen to sit out this season.
Hightower, according to NFL Network's Michael Giardi, just had a baby this month ... and his mom also has type 2 diabetes.
"Me and my fiancée are just more concerned with the health of our family than football," Hightower said in a statement to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, "especially the new addition to our family."
The opt-out is a big blow for the Pats, Hightower recorded 71 tackles and 5.5 sacks for New England last season ... but he's also now one of FIVE Patriots choosing to forego the season.
Pats running back Brandon Bolden and offensive linemen Najee Toran and Marcus Cannon have also joined Hightower and fullback Danny Vitale in sitting out 2020.
There could be more on the way as well ... players still have until the end of this week to make opt-out decisions. [Reply]
Originally Posted by htismaqe:
I'll be perfectly honest, I'm not interested in watching if many more opt out. It's not going to be fun watching the imbalance that comes from some teams only having half of their starters.
Patriots: 8
Browns: 4
Colts, Cowboys: 3
Bears, Bengals, Bills, Broncos, Chiefs, Dolphins, Giants, Jaguars, Jets, Lions, Panthers, Raiders, Ravens, Saints, Washington Football Team: 2
I'm interested to see if any big names or a big influx happens on deadline day. It's not a huge deal as of now I don't think but it's getting there. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Mecca:
If you add that with injuries, which there could be more with the lack of preseason etc, you may end up with a very watered down product.
Hence my "at this point it doesn't" comment. [Reply]
Donta Hightower, CJ Mosley, Patrick Chung, Nate Solder, Devin Funchess, Eddie Goldman.
Those are important players for their teams.
It pretty much is like injuries every year, but the problem is that along with these opt outs, there’s no preseason games, OTA’s and a different training camp.
That’s going to lead to more injuries IMO. Changes like that can have some consequences, especially if the training camp is watered down (fortunately Andy won’t let that happen with us). [Reply]
Originally Posted by RunKC:
Donta Hightower, CJ Mosley, Patrick Chung, Nate Solder, Devin Funchess, Eddie Goldman.
Those are important players for their teams.
It pretty much is like injuries every year, but the problem is that along with these opt outs, there’s no preseason games, OTA’s and a different training camp.
That’s going to lead to more injuries IMO. Changes like that can have some consequences, especially if the training camp is watered down (fortunately Andy won’t let that happen with us).
There are no preseason games in college football... NFL players will adapt accordingly. [Reply]
Originally Posted by KCChiefsFan88:
Teams lose starters all of the time due to injuries, some teams get hit hard with injuries like the Faketriots have with the opt-outs.
But feel free to opt-out as a fan.
There isn't a team in the league that loses half of their starters for an entire season, which is the scenario I'm talking about.
If the numbers hold as they are, that's fine but do you honestly think there won't be more (actually A LOT more) players opt out?
Do you really want to watch the Chiefs if Mahomes, Honey Badger, and Hill opt out? While that's not likely with the Chiefs, it's entirely likely that other teams could have that exact thing happen.
The reason the NFL is intriguing because of the parity. If COVID destroys that parity, there's really no more reason to watch it than watch Ohio State play Ohio. [Reply]