Devin McCourty is staying in New England, and his first order of business might be trying to get Vince Wilfork to do the same.

McCourty has agreed to return to the Patriots after dabbling in free agency during the NFL’s legal tampering process over the weekend, reportedly coming to terms on a new five-year contract with New England.

Now McCourty’s hoping a similar fate will come about for Wilfork, who announced last week the Patriots wouldn’t be picking up his option, making the veteran a free agent.

“It’s similar like you said with (Ndamukong Suh) — for me, playing with him for five years and seeing it, it might not always be 10 sacks in the season but he causes so much havoc up front,” McCourty said Monday during an appearance on ESPN Radio. “It’s tough to think about, especially for me, I’ve grown very close with him in the last couple of years so I’ve been talking to him throughout the whole process. I think he’ll have to try and move on, but obviously with me returning, I’m going to do everything I can to get him back there and playing in New England.

“It’ll be cool just to see what happens over the next month and hopefully he’s back there and helping out.”

If Wilfork is to return, it obviously will be on a new contract. Wilfork announced the news on Twitter with a heartfelt note that certainly made it sound like he was going to test the waters elsewhere, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he still won’t end up back in New England when it’s all said and done.

It’s pretty clear that’s what McCourty hopes will happen.

Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images