Two Patriots defensive linemen say they are not fans of Massachusetts’ “millionaires tax,” siding with former head coach Bill Belichick that players prefer states without income taxes.

Davon Godchaux and Keion White spoke about financial freedom and literacy Wednesday on Godchaux’s “ChauxTalk” podcast, days after Belichick hinted the millionaire’s tax makes it hard for New England to sign top free agents.

“Nah, you know what pissed me off too? When I got here they got that extra 4% millionaires tax out here, too,” White told Godchaux. “That’ll get you too.”

Godchaux responded, “Absolutely. Massachusetts is bad with state taxes, too. It’s terrible. It’s right up there with New York and LA. I just heard Bill Belichick spoke about it … how it was tough to sign free agents in Massachusetts because of the state tax.

“I mean guys these days, if you can sign with a team with no state tax, then go ahead and sign with them because that’s more money you keep in your pocket,” the defensive tackle said.

The voter-approved “millionaires tax” delivered roughly $2.2 billion last fiscal year, a massive haul exceeding original projections set by Gov. Maura Healey’s administration with the surtax designated for transportation and education projects

Beacon Hill decided to spend only $1 billion in surtax revenue in the fiscal year 2024 budget and left any dollars collected beyond that threshold for reserve accounts.

Roughly $524 million went toward education initiatives including $229 million to allow those 25 and older to obtain a degree or certificate for free through any community college. Another $477 million was marked for education projects, including improving accessibility at MBTA stations.

But Godchaux and White highlighted how they’re unaware of how the tax money is being spent.

“What in the Bible says you have to pay taxes? That’s what kills me, though,” Godchaux said. “They say the tax money goes to roads and all that. The roads are still messed up. Where’s the money going? That’s the only thing I have a (problem) about.”

White agreed and brought up the importance of voting.

“A lot of the money is being spent in dumb ways,” he said. “It’s 2024, we should be able to decide where our money goes. Like every time you file your taxes, you can click programs you want to distribute your taxpayer money into.”

White, a 25-year-old defensive end picked in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft, signed a four-year, $7.7 million contract last summer. Godchaux, 29, agreed to a two-year extension worth up to $21 million, with $16.5 million in guaranteed money, last month.

“When you get paid, when I get paid, you have federal taxes, you have state taxes, you’ve got agent fees and then you have to live off the rest,” Godchaux said. “Everybody thinks when you sign a $20 million contract that all $20 million is going to come to you, no.”

Belichick, who left Foxboro in January after a legendary run and is set to serve as a TV analyst this season, made his case Monday on ESPN’s ‘The Pat McAfee Show.’

“It’s Taxachusetts,” he said. “Virtually every player, even the practice squad, well the minimum players are pretty close to $1 million so once you hit that $1 million threshold then you pay more state tax in Massachusetts. It’s just another thing you have to contend with in negotiations up there.”

Bill Belichick: Massachusetts ‘millionaires tax’ a reason why Patriots can’t sign top NFL free agents

Originally Published: August 28, 2024 at 7:14 p.m.

A Massachusetts homeowner claims she has failed to sell her $1 million Cape Cod home for eight months due to the noise from the newly installed pickleball courts from a nearby country club.

Judith Ann Roan Comeau says she listed her Sagamore Beach home and expected it to be sold within 30 days like other similarly priced homes in the neighborhood, but was surprised to find it still on the market over half a year later.

“We have a beautiful view of the bay, we have beautiful gardens, and we’re so close to the beach,” Comeau told Boston.com. “There was something wrong.”

She listed the three-bedroom, three-bathroom property for more than $1 million before she was forced to remove her listing on Aug. 10, the outlet added.

Comeau alleges that the pickleball courts at the Sagamore Beach Colony Club, a 100-year-old private tennis club, were “snuck in during COVID” and placed 30 feet from her property line are the culprit to her unsellable house.

With the home on the market for eight months, Comeau says she had over 60 people view the home, including many coming back for a second look.

“Each time, no matter what time it is, someone is playing PICKLEBALL,” she wrote on Facebook.

“They refuse to use quiet balls or paddles (the members don’t enjoy them as much), will not limit the hours, said only 1 court, now added another,” she railed to the “Pickleball Noise Relief” Facebook group.

The Facebook group is dedicated to “connecting families who are dealing with the unintentional but significant noise nuisance of pickleball courts.”

Comeau says she bought her home knowing the club was nearby and never ran into an issue with the tennis players.

“Not once have we ever complained about tennis, I actually kept an eye on the courts and kicked kids out who were damaging the courts late at night. Now 16 people can play at once,” she said.”

Having fought and complained about the Pickleball courts for the past four years, Comeau says no one has done anything including “every department” in town, as her arguments for softer balls and paddles have “gone on deaf ears.”

Her attempts to drown out the noise by playing music at her house are often stopped by Pickleball players complaining to her about her noise.

“They knock on my door and send emails to lower my music on my deck so they can enjoy their tournaments and event,” Comeau said.

“Imagine being that (entitled) not to care what your neighbors are dealing with. I have always had great caring neighbors until we moved to THE VILLAGE,” she added.

Comeau has taken to recording the noise level from her deck with readings consistently staying in the high 70s-low 80s weighted decibels.

“Pickleball Noise Relief” founder Rob Mastroianni says it has become a “new phenomenon in residential communities.”

“It’s really insidious, this noise that people are enduring now so close to their homes,” he told Boston.com.

A real estate lawyer representing Comeau and two other residents says he is writing a letter to the club urging they move the courts.

“This is actually a growing issue,” Jonathan Polloni told the outlet. “With the rise of the pickleball we were also seeing a rise in more complaints.”

“I can’t imagine any judge saying that it’s OK for us to have to deal with this,” Comeau said. “I hope that it can just be ended, I can say no pickleball, I could put my house on the market, and ride off into the sunset.”

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued a decision on Tuesday ruling that a ban on carrying a switchblade knife violates the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment. 

Since 1957, a state law has prohibited carrying spring-release knives in Massachusetts. The rule prohibited the possession of “a switch knife, or any knife having an automatic spring release device by which the blade is released from the handle,” with the punishment of up to five years in prison for violating the law.

Tuesday’s ruling stemmed from the 2020 arrest of David E. Canjura. According to the SJC, he was charged with carrying a dangerous weapon when police searched him in response to a call for an altercation between him and his girlfriend and they found an “orange firearm-shaped knife with a spring-assisted blade.” Canjura challenged the constitutionality of the charge against him, arguing the blade was an “arm” and his right to carry for self-defense under the Second Amendment.

In their Tuesday decision, the state’s high court cited two rulings on the Second Amendment by the U.S. Supreme Court, known as Bruen and Heller. 

While both rulings were related to guns, The Boston Globe reports that the Supreme Court decisions have resulted in lower courts across the country needing to determine whether present-day laws prohibiting certain weapons would have existed when the Second Amendment was adopted in 1791.

In the Tuesday decision, Justice Serge Georges Jr. wrote that Americans carried small knives, including folding pocketknives, for self-defense, hunting, and trapping in the 17th and 18th centuries.

“Folding pocketknives not only fit within contemporaneous dictionary definitions of arms — which would encompass a broader category of knives that today includes switchblades — but they also were commonly possessed by lawabiding citizens for lawful purposes around the time of the founding,” he wrote. “Setting aside any question whether switchblades are in common use today for lawful purposes, we conclude switchblades are ‘arms’ for Second Amendment purposes. Therefore, the carrying of switchblades is presumptively protected by the plain text of the Second Amendment.”

A request for comment from the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office, which was prosecuting Canjura, was not immediately returned. 

In a filing with the SJC, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin R. Hayden pointed to 19th century rulings in other states that listed Bowie knives, dirks, and brass knuckles as dangerous “to the peace and safety of citizens,” according to the Globe. 

But in its decision, the SJC disagreed, arguing those mentions were focused on different kinds of bladed weapons, not specifically pocket knives or switchblades. 

According to the SJC, Massachusetts was only one of seven states along with the District of Columbia with a full ban on switchblades. Two other states, like Massachusetts, have restrictions on knives based on the blade length. 

“From these facts, we can reasonably infer that switchblades are weapons in common use today by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes,” the decision reads.

According to the Globe, the SJC also cited Bruen last year when it overturned a conviction for illegal gun possession in a 2019 case.