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Why Dont’a Hightower’s absence from Sunday’s Patriots-Dolphins game will cost him a lot of money

After being listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Dolphins, Patriots linebacker Dont’a Hightower was ruled out for the regular-season finale, the team announced Saturday.

Hightower’s absence won’t just be costly for the Patriots, it’ll also be costly to Hightower’s wallet, too.

Because Hightower opted out of the 2020 season, his contract structure for that year – which is the final year of his four-year deal, was moved to 2021. As part of that his contract for this season, which has a base salary of $7.85 million, Hightower could earn up to $2 million in bonuses.