When news broke that the Tennessee Titans would be releasing eight-year veteran Jason McCourty, minds everywhere wondered if he’d make his way to New England to join brother Devin McCourty, a safety for Bill Belichick and Co.
One of those minds, not surprisingly, was Devin himself, who shares a Twitter account with his twin brother.
“I’m excited for him. I was hoping he would be out of Tennessee a couple years ago just to experience something different,” the Patriots safety said Friday at Boston University’s Play it Forward summit, per Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald. “I think obviously now everyone is saying ‘he’s going to come here, he should come here.’ But you never know. I hope we’re interested in him.”
The twin brothers have played together in the past, albeit before their NFL playing days. They came up together as high-school players at Saint Joseph Regional High School in Montvale, New Jersey, then both attended Rutgers, where they played their college ball.
The brothers would love the chance to play together as professionals as well, which is a realistic scenario now that McCourty is hitting the open market. That said, Devin wants his twin to do “what’s right for his family” above all else.
“Like I’ve said before, we’ve loved to play together,” Devin continued, “but I think first and foremost, he has to do what’s kind of right for his family and where he could actually play and be out there playing. He’s not at the point in his career where he just wants to sit on the bench. He wants to get a chance to get out there and compete. I’m excited for him. It’s a little bit of the unknown, but he’s my brother, he should do all right. He should just tell people he’s related to me.”
Given the fact that the future of Malcolm Butler is still somewhat up in the air (more on that here), there’s a chance McCourty could join New England as a starter opposite free agent acquisition Stephon Gilmore. Regardless of what happens on that front, we can be sure Belichick won’t make a move for Jason McCourty out of any sentimental obligation, unless we count his adoration for Rutgers players as a contributing factor.