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Devin McCourty 'lobbying' for Alterraun Verner to join Patriots in free agency

Alterraun Verner is the NFL's most prized free-agent cornerback this year. (Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) With his 55.8 opponent passer rating allowed in 2013 --
Doug Farrar|
Devin McCourty 'lobbying' for Alterraun Verner to join Patriots in free agency
Devin McCourty 'lobbying' for Alterraun Verner to join Patriots in free agency

Alterraun Verner is the NFL's most prized free-agent cornerback this year. (Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)

With his 55.8 opponent passer rating allowed in 2013 -- the third-best among all qualifying cornerbacks in the NFL -- former Tennessee Titans defensive back Alterraun Verner stands to make a killing when free agency rolls around on Tuesday. He's been tied to multiple teams with a need at corner, and he talked about that process with SIRIUS XM's Mad Dog Sports Radio on Monday.

"You're not going to get a better all-around football player in the NFL [than me]," Verner said. "I'm gonna cover, [and I] don't shy away from contact. If you ask me to play inside, if you ask me to blitz, I'm a football player and I'll do whatever it takes to win."

Verner proved that he can certainly cover -- in 586 coverage snaps in 2013, per Pro Football Focus, he was targeted 79 times and allowed 39 receptions for 579 yards and two touchdowns, picking off five passes. It was by far his best season since the Titans selected him in the fourth round of the 2010 draft out of UCLA. Tennessee doesn't feel that it has the resources to keep Verner -- at least that's been his impression -- and he'll hit the open market at maximum value.

MORE: NFL free agency rumors | Potential FA busts | 2014 NFL free agency predictions

As such, Verner has laid out a few thoughts about what he wants.

"I feel more compelled to go to a team that I think can win," he said. "I haven't had that experience for the past four years in Tennessee. Money is [priority] but it isn't ... I look at it differently ... Some look at it tangibly. I look at it as more of a respect value. I would feel more obliged to go to a team that paid me $6 or $7 million and made me one of the highest-paid players on the team, than go to a team that paid me $8 or $9 million and I wasn't one of the highest-paid players on the team."

Verner talked about a number of possible landing spots, including the New York Jets and San Francisco 49ers, but it seems that the New England Patriots have an inside track if defensive back Devin McCourty -- the brother of Titans cornerback Jason McCourty -- has anything to say about it.

"[New England] is definitely a possibility," he said. "Jason's brother [Devin] has been lobbying for me."

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Doug Farrar
DOUG FARRAR

SI.com contributing NFL writer and Seattle resident Doug Farrar started writing about football locally in 2002, and became Football Outsiders' West Coast NFL guy in 2006. He was fascinated by FO's idea to combine Bill James with Dr. Z, and wrote for the site for six years. He wrote a game-tape column called "Cover-2" for a number of years, and contributed to six editions of "Pro Football Prospectus" and the "Football Outsiders Almanac." In 2009,  Doug was invited to join Yahoo Sports' NFL team, and covered Senior Bowls, scouting combines, Super Bowls, and all sorts of other things for Yahoo Sports and the Shutdown Corner blog through June, 2013. Doug received the proverbial offer he couldn't refuse from SI.com in 2013, and that was that. Doug has also written for the Seattle Times, the Washington Post, the New York Sun, FOX Sports, ESPN.com, and ESPN The Magazine.  He also makes regular appearances on several local and national radio shows, and has hosted several podcasts over the years. He counts Dan Jenkins, Thomas Boswell, Frank Deford, Ralph Wiley, Peter King, and Bill Simmons as the writers who made him want to do this for a living. In his rare off-time, Doug can be found reading, hiking, working out, searching for new Hendrix, Who, and MC5 bootlegs, and wondering if the Mariners will ever be good again.

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