It was a bit of a surprise when the Patriots placed the franchise tag on Joe Thuney back in March.
Given the Patriots' salary cap space at the time, it didn't seem worth it to commit just under $15 million to a guard, and it seemed a long-term extension wouldn't be possible -- which ultimately did not happen.
But, did the Patriots retain Thuney because of the potential interest from another team?
According NFL.com's Gregg Rosenthal, that might have been the case.
“There is some belief that the Jets’ reported interest in Thuney helped inspire Bill Belichick to keep him off the market,” Rosenthal wrote.