FOXBORO, Mass. — A couple of days into training camp, the New England Patriots reached an agreement with safety Jabrill Peppers to lock up the safety who was one of their best players last season. On the surface, it was fairly standard news. Those types of extensions tend to happen either right before camp begins or shortly after.
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But for the Patriots, it was notable for a different reason. Despite going 4-13 a year ago in a season so bad the Pats parted with Bill Belichick, the team’s new front office, led by Eliot Wolf, spent the offseason re-signing and extending so many players from that bad team.
Peppers was the 11th Patriots player this offseason to earn an extension or new deal, a somewhat curious move considering the struggles this roster provided. Instead of a fresh start, the new regime has been hell-bent on ensuring that players stick around.
Why is that? Why do the Patriots want seemingly every eligible player back from a bad team? To understand that, let’s look at each deal.
GO DEEPERHow Jerod Mayo has changed Pats training camp from the Bill Belichick eraChristian Barmore
Contract: Four years, $83 million
This deal was a no-brainer for the Patriots to ensure one of their best players stuck around. For now, Barmore’s status for the season is up in the air after the Patriots announced Sunday night that the star defensive tackle was diagnosed with blood clots. His health is the priority right now and makes examining the deal a bit complicated. But it was an obvious win for the Patriots to get Barmore extended when they agreed to the deal.
GO DEEPERChristian Barmore diagnosed with blood clotsKyle Dugger
Contract: Four years, $58 million
Here’s the truth about a lot of the defensive players on the Patriots: In a scheme that values positionless players who can move across the field and line up in several spots, players like Dugger can live up to the money they make. On other teams, this would probably seem like an overpay. What remains to be seen though is whether the Patriotsdefense lives up to their consistently high standard without Belichick, even if Jerod Mayo was a de facto co-defensive coordinator a year ago.
Mike Onwenu
Contract: Three years, $57 million
Onwenu was arguably the biggest priority for the Patriots this offseason. They couldn’t afford to lose their best offensive lineman from a group that was among the league’s worst a year ago. His deal is a good one if he’s going to play right tackle. By the time Tristan Wirfs signs his likely extension with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Onwenu’s annual average value won’t even rank in the top 10 of offensive tackles. But here’s the problem: For reasons that are still a bit befuddling, the Patriots have used Onwenu at right guard during camp — Mayo has said it’s because they want to have their best five players on the field. So if he’s just going to be a guard, this deal suddenly looks questionable. It would rank as the fourth richest for an offensive guard and would make for a lot of money sunk into a position that’s not nearly as valuable as tackle.
Rhamondre Stevenson
Contract: Four years, $36 million
Two things can be true regarding this deal. The first is that Stevenson is one of the best offensive players the Patriots have and they will rely upon him heavily this season. The second is that paying running backs on deals that guarantee their roster spot for multiple years after their rookie contracts expire doesn’t have a great track record of success around the league. The way Stevenson’s deal is constructed, he’s virtually assured a roster spot the next three seasons with the Patriotsfinally having a potential out before the 2027 season. Stevenson is a quality player, but running backs depreciate quickly and can more easily be replaced in the draft than other positions. This deal also is banking a lot of money that he’ll play at a high level into his late 20s, which is far from a guarantee.
GO DEEPERAfter big payday, can Rhamondre Stevenson prove he's a top-10 running back?Hunter Henry
Contract: Three years, $27 million
As he’s stuck in the Patriots’ struggling offense, Henry’s production has dipped in each of his three years with New England. Still, he was the top free agent at his position this offseason, and the Patriots badly needed a tight end. So the fit makes sense even if it’s a bit more money than you’d typically want to give someone who tallied only 419 yards a year ago.
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Jabrill Peppers
Contract: Three years, $24 million
It feels like Peppers has been in the league for a long time, but he’s only now approaching his age-29 season and is coming off the best year of his career, graded as a top-five safety by Pro Football Focus. He’s a perfect fit for the do-everything approach of the Patriots defense and contributes on special teams, so this deal makes a lot of sense and might even be under market value if Peppers plays as well as he did a year ago.
Kendrick Bourne
Contract: Three years, $19.5 million
On the surface, this seems like a lot of money to give an already-slow receiver coming off an ACL tear. But a deeper look makes this deal seem more like a one-year contract with team options after that since the Pats can easily get out of it next year. With that context, it’s pretty good value and low risk given they still have high hopes for Bourne after the injury.
GO DEEPERCan Kendrick Bourne pick up where he left off and become the Patriots' No. 1 WR?Jahlani Tavai
Contract: Three years, $16 million
This amounts to a two-year deal with a team option after that, which is fine value to keep intact the team’s solid linebacker tandem of Tavai and Ja’Whaun Bentley. Tavai, who came to New England because of former Patriots coach Matt Patricia, was one of the better Belichick signings in recent years.
David Andrews
Contract: Two years, $12 million
It’s a little curious the Pats extended Andrews’ deal considering it seemed like they had drafted the 32-year-old’s replacement when they selected Jake Andrews in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft. But David Andrews isn’t breaking the bank at this price, so no need for much concern, especially considering he’s a leader of the team and one of the few remaining links to the dynasty.
Anfernee Jennings
Contract: Three years, $12 million
His role is limited to being a run stopper on early downs, but he’s damn good at that job, and at this price, that’s totally fine. You’d probably prefer one player to occupy a role on all three downs, but as long as the Patriots have a pure pass rusher to take Jennings’ spot in obvious passing situations, this is a fine deal. Which leads us to …
GO DEEPERStarting over: Ex-Patriots QB Mac Jones all in on his rebuild with JaguarsJosh Uche
Contract: One year, $3 million
When Matthew Judon has been healthy, Uche has been a high-level No. 2 edge rusher. But without Judon last year, Uche’s numbers dropped (three sacks in 2023 compared with 11.5 in 2022). Because of that, Uche didn’t have massive deals awaiting him in free agency, so he chose to return to New England on a prove-it deal with the hope of cashing in next year.
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Conclusion
It’s still fair to question the strategy of bringing back such a similar roster after a disastrous season. But even after all these deals, the Patriots still have the second-most cap space in the league this season and are projected for the second-most cap space next year, so it’s not like these are hampering their ability to land a No. 1 receiver either via trade or free agency next year. You could take issue with a few of them, but on the whole, these are mostly fine contracts even if it feels like an odd strategy to bring back the key players from a four-win team.
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The plan also opens them up to internal questions. Judon and Davon Godchaux are basically the only eligible players who haven’t signed extensions. Judon acknowledged he can’t help but feel envious seeing everyone else get paid. Godchaux said he feels disrespected. That’s not ideal and is a byproduct of extending so many other players. That’s why there’s plenty of risk in this strategy even if most of the contracts given out make sense.
(Photo of Rhamondre Stevenson: Fred Kfoury III / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Chad Graff is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the New England Patriots since 2022 after five years on the Minnesota Vikings beat. Graff joined The Athletic in January 2018 after covering a bit of everything for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. He won the Pro Football Writers of America’s 2022 Bob Oates Award for beat writing. He's a New Hampshire native and an adjunct professor of journalism at the University of New Hampshire. Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadGraff
