Dont'a Hightower and 4 other Patriots opt out of 2020 season
 

https://www.tmz.com/2020/07/27/nfl-p...ytZNH04RUDIiaM


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.

LMAO I bet if Brady were still there this wouldn't be happening.

Yet dumb**** pat fans don't want to admit they are done...thumb it down patriot scum

Quitters.

They know they’re done. Time to jump ship

Yea I'm sure the dude that beat cancer is totally just sitting cause of Brady.

Dont'a Wanna Play

Just like thier fans...things get rough they jump ship

Things aren’t rough, though. They got Cam, who could easily bounce back and be an upgrade over old dead-arm. The Patriots are back to being a possible contender this year. At least they are if they don’t all opt out.

More like if he wasn't a 1st time father of a very young infant, this wouldn't be happening...

ROFL

who's the old lady in that picture?

Stop dont' comeback

You're going to see more guys sit, lots of players have made bank and have no reason to risk it.

I'd love to see the Pats dynasty collapse. But I still get nervous that they'll find a way to tank just enough for Trevor Lawrence. Want them to suck, but not too much.

I expect the Patriots with Newton (or a much better Stidham than we thought he he wins the job) to be one of the Top teams in the AFC. Losing Hightower is huge though, I'll have to knock them down a peg. But if you think they are going 3-13 you are out of your mind.

They could sleep walk to 8-8.

Patriots will win their division this year, as always.

While they have every right to do so, CTE would be a bigger concern for me if I was a NFL football player and it's not even close.

I'm surprised more COACHES aren't opting out, and surprised PLAYERS are.

Bill tanking the season to try to get Trevor Lawrence?

Losing for Lawrence

At their age they both have a better chance of dying from Influenza B.

Yea I'm sure guys are just intentionally leaving millions of dollars on the table to lose for a rookie QB, don't buy that either.

Pats will not win the East

After the Pats climbed 8 spots in the NFL power rankings too... I'm curious what that will look like as of next week.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say these guys who are sitting disagree with you.

Did they get any receivers? Last I checked Edelman was their best one still. To have a #3 or 4 slot receiver Like Edelman be your best receiving option definitely makes you a bottom dweller in this league. Cam doesn’t have the legs anymore to save their lack of offensive weapons. 8-8 is a possibility because they’re in the AFC east, but no one outside the northeast considers them an AFC contender anymore.

We have Mahomes. We're good!

:shrug: doesn't mean they are right. Data is data.

Add Patrick Chung to the list

I don't blame them. It's not worth the risk when you have millions in the bank. As much as I love football I'd sit too if I was Hightower

ROFL

You seem too scared to drive to work then

Guess Hightower should take lessons on toughness from you.

I would think all the coke going through his nasal passages would make him somehow immune to anything affecting his upper respiratory system.

Shit, I'd take $150k to NOT play football right now.

What some of those guys are taking would be like if you took 10% of your annual pay to take a year off.

There isn't much "risk" for him at all or me. Yourself probably too. So no "toughness" at all dummy.

I assume there will be plenty more to come. Especially for some of the guys who have newborns or spouses with health issues.

Lol. Yeah no risk at all...

Patrick Peterson has diabetes so I'd be stunned if he plays.

I said much...and for people that age and kids...yeah even less so

So what happens if a superstar opts out like Mahomes or Lamaar Jackson??

Well, yeah they aren't going to compete for the AFC Championship now without Hightower and Chung.

Which makes me wonder. Would these players opting out opt IN if there was a bubble?

They'll get called a pussy.

If there was a bubble more guys would opt out, you think any dudes with young children or families would be cool leaving for 6 months?

Absolutely. I know that's what's going on.

There should be an opportunity to allow people to come into the bubble as long as they quarantine correctly. It would be sacrifice for sure though. There is no reason wife and children couldn't come into the bubble once quarantined although that would be a much bigger obstacle for children.

That is why the answer may be a shorter season. 8 games with playoffs more manageable.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...king-full-list

That's the list so far, guys like Star Lotulelei are leaving lots of money on the table.

Why did they sign Cam then? He’s good enough to keep them from a top 10 pick.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sources: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Bears?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Bears</a> standout DT Eddie Goldman has informed the team he plans to opt out due to health concerns related to COVID-19. Goldman has been a standout in the middle of Chicago’s D since 2015.</p>&mdash; Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/1288124534059499522?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 28, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

That's a tough one, there are some good players opting out, we're literally 1 or 2 big time QB's opting out away from the conversation of "should there be a season?"

He play defense too?

:facepalm:

You sure do seem like you’re rooting for that to happen.

Mark Anderson has diabetes. Cameron Heyward has asthma. Von Miller has asthma and already got it..what if he gets a different strain and goes through this again?

Just ****ing cancel the season. It’s going to watered down shit by the time all these guys opt out. That’s not even counting a single player getting the virus heya be missing time

It's a realistic conversation to have, more names are coming out pretty consistently of guys not playing.

A big name player, especially a QB would get that talk started.

Wake me up when a top 100 player opts out.

The biggest thing here is a lot of them are lineman because overweight guys have a higher chance of having complications, seems they know that.

Donta Hightower, Patrick Chung and Marcus Cannon ring a bell? Those guys aren’t JAG’s

Eddie Goldman is one of the better DT's in the league right now.

LMAO

And nowhere close to top 100. Good grief.

Interesting
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The reason a lot of players are opting out (besides health reasons) is if you have a lot of guaranteed money this year and the season is cancelled, they risk losing a lot of money</p>&mdash; Jonathan Feliciano (@MongoFeliciano) <a href="https://twitter.com/MongoFeliciano/status/1288144107282595843?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 28, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Didn't think about that, not a bad point.

He’s the best to opt out, and he’s still not top 100.

Losing Cannon ain't nothing.

That's their starting RT and one of the few known quantities they could count on year in, year out on that line. He was especially good in pass pro.

That hurts more than Hightower, IMO.

Yup.

Ravens TE Mark Anderson has diabetes. Why would he risk it?

Von Miller has asthma and has already had it, could get another strain. Cameron Heyward also has asthma. Why would he risk it?

Not too mention all these lineman who have high BMI’s. More starting players will continue to opt out

If that is the case, noone with a large contract with gtd money should play from a financial standpoint.

And the NFL failed at creating the proper incentives to have this season.

It sure seems penny wise and pound foolish, though.

I mean if it's true that it's a stipend that they're 'borrowing' against future earnings for, they're gonna give it back if they're in the league next year. Meanwhile those that think they'll be out of the league next season and never need to 'repay' it seem to be running the risk of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Time marches on here and if there IS a season and they don't play in it, they're probably done.

For $150K? These guys really that hard-up for money?

I can see it for guys on the fringes of rosters, but established veterans w/ a few years of sizeable paychecks and a few more years of football in front of them - boy that seems an iffy gamble to be taking.

Basically every nose tackle is obese and that is a super high risk factor, why would they wanna do that? So a real conversation here is what happens if a ton of linemen opt out?

This was the one that immediately stood out to me.

All of these linemen are 'obese' by BMI standards. They're all going to be considered to have co-morbidities.

I was wondering if there wouldn't be an exodus of fat guys.

They were talking about that today. Ravens pro bowl RT Orlando Brown Is 345 lbs and has never been in “great” shape (his combine was awful).

There’s rumors he’s considering opting out

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Vikings?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Vikings</a> NT Michael Pierce is opting out of the 2020 season, sources tell me and <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeGarafolo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MikeGarafolo</a>. Minnesota’s only big-ticket free agent this year leaves a hole up front on defense.</p>&mdash; Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) <a href="https://twitter.com/TomPelissero/status/1288150458218024962?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 28, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Another lineman, these fat dudes seem concerned.

There isn't another "strain".

A guy at my wifes work caught it twice, and has so far claimed he was told he caught a different straight the second time...not saying he's right or wrong just he said he was told that.

LMAO

That's kind of the unspoken truth that will never really be said out loud because it might seem offensive, but it's a concern. The NFL probably does have more guys with health concerns if they get this thing just because of BMI.

If you broke the numbers down to the numbers of the nfl with percentages we would have 4 players die from this, I don't expect that but that would be just equaling out the numbers.

Most of these players will regret their opt-out decisions by October when the NFL season is progressing as relatively normal.

No opting back in... when you are out, you are gone until 2021 (assuming you even get your job back).

If Von Miller plays this year it will be an interesting case study. He got this thing and Has had asthma most of his life.

Is his play going to drop bc of age and the virus affecting his breathing (lasting effects)?

Well there it is folks, now we know the season will be cancelled.

All these guys who are opting out already got paid a big contract with solid guaranteed money.