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As first reported by ESPN’s Mike Reiss, free agent defensive end Chris Long took to Instagram on Wednesday to say thank you to Patriots fans, and to bid them a farewell:
Long earned $2,879,445 in his one season with the Patriots, which included incentives for playing 65% of New England’s defensive snaps in 2016. He’ll (hopefully) be remembered for the holding call he drew from Falcons left tackle Jake Matthews in Super Bowl 51 which helped drive Atlanta out of field goal range in the 4th quarter, leading to a punt.
Long gave no reason for his departure, but made it clear that it wasn’t a financial decision. The Patriots have only three edge defenders remaining from the 2016: Rob Ninkovich, Trey Flowers, and Geneo Grissom.
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