Nate Ebner on Re-Signing With Patriots: 'That Would Be the Best Thing'

Special teams standout Nate Ebner feels the best place for him is with the Patriots. But he'll let his agent figure it out from here.

One New England Patriots player that will become a free agent on March 18 is Nate Ebner. As a core special teams player, Ebner is not a long-tenured Patriot that is talked about much when discussing who New England needs to sign this offseason. But don't let the fool you - he provides a great value to the franchise and should be retained by the six-time Super Bowl champions. 

Ebner was asked about re-signing with New England while at an event in Boston in which he and safety Patrick Chung were introduced as minority owners of the Free Jacks, a Major League Rugby expansion team. The former international rugby player acknowledged that returning to the Patriots would be "the best thing." 

“That would be the best thing," Ebner told NESN.com "I think, when you consider my entire career has been here. I’ve got some true friendships here. ... But right now it’s out of my hands, so we’ll see what happens.”

Ebner, along with aging veterans like Matthew Slater and Devin McCourty, have all agreed that after spending as much time as they have in New England, it would only feel right to finish their careers as a Patriot. But while Slater and Ebner wouldn't have a very strong market in free agency anyway because of their roles being limited to just special teams, McCourty will surely grab interest from other teams who need a veteran safety to shore up their secondary. So, only time will tell if all three will be wearing red, white and blue for the 2020 season. 

One has to think Ebner will eventually re-sign with the Patriots this offseason. It's just the matter of figuring out how much he will get paid.