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Cardinals Nab Key Patriots LB, Signs Two-Year Contract originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The New England Patriots have yet to retain any of their own free agents in the new league year. That trend continued Monday evening when the Arizona Cardinals announced they had signed 27-year-old linebacker Jack Gibbens.
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Gibbens was a major part of the Patriots' Super Bowl run as one of, if not the most, underappreciated pieces of the defense.
He played 47% of all defensive snaps last season, including filling in for Robert Spillane as a starter in the final four weeks of the year. He also played two-thirds of all of the special teams snaps for New England.
The Patriots did not offer the $3.5 million tender contract, sending their third-leading tackler to test the open market. The exact dollar amount of Gibbens' two-year deal with the Cardinals has yet to be announced, but it would likely have cost New England around $2.5 million annually to retain the fifth-year backer.
Gibbens joins several other members of the AFC Championship team that the front office has let walk, like LB K'Lavon Chaisson, S Jaylinn Hawkins, TE Austin Hooper, T Vederian Lowe and DL Khyiris Tonga.
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Newly signed linebacker K.J. Britt will fill in for Gibbens on special teams and be used situationally on defense, but New England will now have to consider selecting an off-ball linebacker in next month’s draft.
