Coronavirus: Patriots lose starters Dont'a Hightower and Marcus Cannon to NFL season opt-outs

If Bill Belichick leads the New England Patriots to a 12th straight AFC East title this season, would it be his best coaching job yet? An argument could be made considering the Patriots lost a guy named Tom Brady, only the most successful quarterback in league history, as well as linebackers Kyle Van Noy and Jamie Collins to free agency this offseason. Now, Belichick has to deal with the loss of two more starters who are opting out of playing in 2020 in a coronavirus pandemic: Offensive tackle Marcus Cannon and middle linebacker Dont'a Hightower.

Cannon, who plays on the right side, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma during his final year at TCU and thus is considered a "high-risk" opt-out. That means he would get a $350,000 stipend and an accrued season this year. Cannon was scheduled to make $4.7 million.

Hightower, a three-time Super Bowl champion, two-time Pro Bowler and the captain of that defense, is not a "high-risk" player and will get a $150,00 stipend. He was scheduled to earn a base salary of $8 million and that contract will now toll to the 2021 season. The 30-year-old became a first-time father on July 16.

"Me and my fiancée are just more concerned with the health of our family than football — especially the new addition to our family," Hightower said. His mother, L'Tanya, also has Type 2 diabetes.

Hightower is clearly the most high-profile NFL player to opt-out thus far but won't be the last. He had 71 tackles and 5.5 sacks in 15 games last year. Ja' Whaun Bentley is projected to replace him in the middle. New England will have an entire new set of starting linebackers.

The Patriots also have lost three reserves to opt-outs in running back Brandon Bolden, a very good special teams player, fullback Danny Vitale and lineman Najee Toran. The deadline for players to choose to opt-out or not is Aug. 3.

These opt-outs have not affected Patriots futures odds at William Hill sportsbook yet, and they remain +115 favorites in the AFC East, but a spokesperson said this: "(The opt-outs are) being monitored, but these players alone will not move the odds. If the public starts heavily betting against the Patriots due to this, then the odds will move, but no proactive movement."

Update: Safety Patrick Chung announced later Tuesday he was opting-out. William Hill oddsmakers then did make a move, changing the Pats from +115 to +125 to win the East. 

Which teams sail past their projected win totals? What is the SportsLine model's stunning Packers prediction? And how many wins will every NFL team have this season? ... See every projected win total, including the shocking prediction for the Packers, all from an uncanny computer model that crushed its NFL win total picks last year!