Matthew Slater plans on making most of his potential final game

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. – The curtain might be closing on one of the greatest Patriots in franchise history.

Matthew Slater won’t say if next week’s game against the New York Jets will be his last, but the future Patriots Hall of Famer recognized this could be the end of his historic NFL career.

Slater, 38, surprised some teammates this past offseason when he opted to return to the Patriots for the 2023 season. A 10-time Pro Bowler, eight-time All-Pro, three-time Super Bowl champion, and Patriots captain since the 2011 season, Slater said he’s going to enjoy every moment of next week’s regular-season finale.

Slater said he recently received that advice from Devin McCourty, who retired from the NFL this past offseason.

“I’m trying to enjoy it as much as I can – take it all in, cherish the moments with the guys,” Slater told MassLive. “The reality is I don’t know what my future holds. I just want to cherish every minute of it. I’ve talked to guys who’ve crossed over, so to speak, D-Mac and (people) like that and they’re just like, ‘Hey, man, enjoy all of it. You know, when it’s gone, it’s gone.’ I’m going to enjoy it and try not to think too much about what lies ahead.”

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Slater has been one of the best stories to come out of the Patriots in franchise history.

A fifth-round pick in 2008, Slater was considered a ‘roster bubble’ player for his first three NFL seasons. That changed in 2011. That season, Slater earned captain honors and Pro Bowl honors for the first time in his NFL career.

Now, 14 years later, Slater is not only one of the most well-respected players in Patriots history but arguably the greatest coverage special teamer in league history. Slater currently holds the NFL record for special teams Pro Bowl selections (10) and first-time All-Pro honors (five).

Slater has also been instrumental in helping the Patriots through a difficult 2023 season. This year’s 4-12 team hasn’t won many games, but the group has shown plenty of fight. That’s a credit to leadership.

“We’ve got a lot of high-character guys on this team,” Slater said. “That’s not something you can measure. It’s not something that shows up in the stats column. It’s not something that shows up in the scouting report, but we have a lot of high-character guys. We could’ve easily gotten the doors blown off of us today with the way we played. It says a lot about the character of the guys on this team.”

There’s no higher character than that of Slater’s.