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Browns trade Jason McCourty to Pats instead of releasing him

Sirius At Super Bowl Day 1

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - FEBRUARY 04: Jason McCourty of the Tennessee Titans and Devin McCourty of the New England Patriots visit the SiriusXM set at Super Bowl 50 Radio Row at the Moscone Center on February 4, 2016 in San Francisco, California.(Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM)

Cindy Ord

When the Browns announced they were releasing cornerback Jason McCourty on Thursday, plenty of people wondered if he might wind up in New England to play alongside his twin brother Devin in the Patriots secondary.

The McCourty brothers will be reunited on the field for the first time since Rutgers, but it won’t be because the Patriots signed Jason following his release. Despite the Browns’ announcement, McCourty remained a member of the team long enough to be traded to the Patriots.

The Browns announced that they have traded McCourty and a 2018 seventh-round pick for a 2018 sixth round pick. The move gives the Patriots a corner to help fill the void left by Malcolm Butler’s departure and gives Devin McCourty something he wanted when his brother was released by the Titans last year.

“If [Bill Belichick] did listen to me, I would definitely shoot him a text message and tell him, ‘I don’t know if he heard the news, but Jason McCourty is a free agent.,’” Devin said last year. “He’ll listen to me sometimes about my opinion on the deep middle, but scouting players, he stays away from me.”

That scouting report may not have been the reason the Patriots made Thursday’s move, but they’ve doubled down on McCourtys all the same.