Vincent Frank
The New England Patriots are that franchise everyone loves to hate. Success at the level they’ve seen over nearly the past two decades will bring out the haters. It’s no different than when Pittsburgh was dominating in the 1970s or when the San Francisco 49ers won four titles in the 1990s. It’s just more prevalent in the social media age.
What those who love to criticize the Patriots fail to recognize is that this organization does indeed take good care of its players. This is the latest example. The team handed defensive lineman Lawrence Guy a $500,000 bonus on his contract after he failed to hit that bonus due to playing time last season.
It looks to me like the Patriots adjusted the contract of DT Lawrence Guy to add a $500,000 bonus in 2018, probably because he just missed out on a $500,000 incentive in his contract for hitting 55% playing time in 2017. (He finished the year with 54.8%.)
— Ian Whetstone (@IanWhetstone) February 17, 2018
This is not necessarily a widespread thing around the NFL. When contractual stipulations are not met — even by the smallest of margins — teams don’t then decide to pony up a half million to said player. That’s not how it works.
Guy, a seventh-round pick of the Packers back in 2011, has carved out a role in New England. He started 15 games last season, recording 58 tackles and one sack while acting as the team’s best run-stuffing defensive linemen. Surely, the Patriots knew the right thing to do here was reward him.
