Chris Long says he won’t re-sign with Patriots so he can be ‘the player I was before’

Chris Long turned down bigger and longer contract options to ink a one-year, $2 million deal with the Patriots. Twelve months and one Super Bowl ring later, he took to his Instagram to announce he’d be moving on from New England.

Long’s tenure in Foxborough was short, but memorable. He had spent his first eight seasons in the league with the Rams, who drafted him with the second overall pick of the 2008 NFL Draft. He tallied 54.5 sacks and earned four Pro Bowl invitations over that span, but went 33-80-1 while mired with one of the league’s least successful franchises.

That led him to the great northeast and a team that had gone 96-32 over the same span. The Patriots went 14-2 to send Long to his very first postseason game, then mounted the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history to give him the championship he’d chased since starting his professional career.

But playing as part of a defensive line rotation under head coach Bill Belichick and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia appears to have changed Long’s game. His reason for leaving the franchise is “to get back to being the player I was before.” His four sacks marked the fewest he’d recorded in a full 16-game season since his rookie season. He was also at risk of ceding snaps to rising star Trey Flowers, whose 2.5 sacks helped Long earn his first NFL championship.

Interestingly enough, Long tallied as many sacks (four) and more tackles (35) with the Patriots than he had in his previous two injury-riddled seasons combined.

At age 32, Long is entering the tail end of his career, but can still contribute to a starting defense. With more than $100 million in total earnings and a Super Bowl ring on its way, he’s entered the phase of his NFL life where he can do whatever he wants. The only clear thing about his 2017 right now is that it won’t be with the Patriots.