The New England Patriots are playing a dangerous game this offseason.

They may be the Super Bowl champions, but a lot of big questions still have to be answered in Foxborough.

The Patriots chose to franchise tag kicker Stephen Gostkowski. Many NFL experts initially thought the Patriots would use the franchise tag on safety Devin McCourty. McCourty is still just 27 years old and he's a valuable free safety who makes big plays in the Patriots secondary.

By not placing the franchise tag on McCourty, that means that he can become an unrestricted free agent on Tuesday, March 10 at the 4 p.m. EST deadline. For Patriots fans, this could be very good news or devastatingly bad news.

On the positive side, it could potentially mean that a long-term contract is in the works. By not using the franchise tag on McCourty, Belichick (who is also the general manager) may know that his star safety is coming back next season regardless of past decisions. If New England is able to re-sign McCourty long-term, that would save them a lot of money.

On the negative side, it's risky. Really risky. McCourty can test the open market if he's not re-signed by Tuesday. Even with McCourty playing alongside Revis last season, the Patriots pass defense ranked 17th overall in the league. Imagine without him?

"I really didn't know. There was no real information from them on if it was going to be me or Gostkowski. So I was kind of going off of what everybody else was going off, with what people were reporting as far as sources and all that. So, I guess it's more realistic now that there's a chance that I might not be back in New England," said McCourty.

If the Patriots do indeed lose McCourty, they won't have many great options in free agency this offseason.

The Patriots also have to make a big decision with Darrelle Revis, who was a huge addition last offseason, and one of the primary reasons the team was able to win its fourth franchise Super Bowl. However, if New England decides to keep Revis next season, it will result in a $25 million cap hit.

With Revis, there is a little bit more leverage because even if a new deal isn't complete, he is still under contract for next season. It really just depends on whether or not Revis wants to play for less with a Super Bowl contender or does he want to make more elsewhere. The Buffalo Bills have shown interest in Revis, especially because of the Rex Ryan connection.

Another AFC East team, the New York Jets, have also shown a lot of interest in signing Revis. That seems like an unlikely scenario at this point, but anything can happen.

In a perfect world, the Patriots will restructure Revis's contract and avoid a $25 million cap hit next season. Revis would still get a lot of guaranteed money and the Patriots would keep their star cornerback. To add to that, the Patriots would sign McCourty before Tuesday locking him up for next season before other teams can get their hands on him.

However, it doesn't always turn out that way.

The Patriots will be by far the busiest team over the next week in efforts to secure their best cornerback and their best safety. In the meantime, they must also focus on Shane Vereen, who is set to become a free agent.

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