I’m not a smart defense watcher, really - others here will forget more about scheming and responsibilities than I’ll ever know. So perhaps I’m way off here, but I wouldn’t have put McCourty in the same degree of done as Hightower or even close. Hightower’s inability to close was on display almost every week. McCourty had a bad game Saturday and should have caught the pick last week, but he didn’t stand out as a weak spot to me most of the season. I can buy that retaining him will cost more than his play is worth at this point, but I don’t think even the 2021 version will be easily replaced in a single offseason.