Adrian Phillips is having another terrific season, his second in New England.
The 29-year-old was scheduled to be a free agent following the season, and likely would have generated a ton of interest around the league, but it will not come to that.
Phillips signed an extension Saturday. It's reportedly a three-year extension worth $12.75 million and has a maximum value of $14.25 million, including $7.25 million guaranteed.
“I knew the talks had been going on for a little while now, but I stayed out of it just because I wanted to work on the season," Phillips said following Sunday's win. "Last week they picked up a lot and then we were able to get something done. We were able to get the agreement and once I found out I was happy. It was a big weight lifted off my shoulders.”
Phillips had a good response as to why he wanted to remain a Patriot, which centered around the culture and Bill Belichick.
“Really just the culture," he said. "I’ve talked about this before, but from the outside looking in you kind of get this stigma about Foxborough, like there’s no fun here, blah, blah, blah, whatever it is. And then you get here and you see it ain’t like that at all. It’s really just hard work. You do your job, you win games, you have fun going to the postseason.
"Being able to be coached by somebody like Coach Belichick, like who doesn’t want that opportunity? He’s the greatest coach in the game, to me personally. Just being around his mind and his savvy and seeing how he operates, this is where I want to be. This is a city built on football, and I just love it. It was easy for me to be able to get something worked out to stay here.”
Phillips' versatility and intelligence makes him one of the more valuable players to the defense.
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