Christian Barmore’s mega contract is about Patriots winning back players

Henry McKenna

AFC East Reporter

Trust us.

That seems to be the message to the players from the New England Patriots‘ new leadership group this offseason.

The Patriots have made a major effort to keep their budding stars happy despite a 4-13 season in 2023. They’ve gone the no-nonsense route of paying them big sums of money. Defensive tackle Christian Barmore is the latest example. On Monday, the Patriots signed Barmore, a 2021 second-round pick, to a massive four-year extension worth up to $92 million.

There’s a shift happening. Bill Belichick rarely extended players to second contracts, which are generally the most lucrative deal of a player’s career. But with Belichick now gone, New England has spent the offseason investing in its own standouts: Michael Onwenu, Kyle Dugger and now Barmore.

Patriots first-year coach Jerod Mayo joked in January that the team was going to “burn some cash.” And, though he backtracked on those comments, he eventually kept his promise.

Those three players signed deals worth $207 million in new money.

Following Belichick’s departure, Mayo and executive Eliot Wolf have been working to earn back the trust that Belichick lost. All this money is an effort to show the Patriots’ locker room that, while players didn’t always get paid in the previous regime, they will get paid in this one. If they play hard and play well, they won’t be shown the door in free agency. They’ll get their payday from the Patriots.

For a team that’s no longer a winner, that kind of message can help boost morale.

There are surely other initiatives taking place beyond these financial ones. Mayo was once a player, and he is a master of building relationships.

New England has also gone out of its way to patch up relationships that Belichick damaged with the media. The team scheduled an off-the-record session for media members and the entire coaching staff. While the media and the team didn’t have the happiest relationship in the previous regime, the session was geared at resetting the tense situation and building relationships. If things like that are happening with out-of-house reporters, you can bet they’re happening within the coaching staff and the locker room.

And things got bad in the locker room last year. Belichick’s tough coaching style and atypical decision-making once made him a trendsetter. But as the team lost more and more, his evil-genius routine lost its appeal. Mayo and Wolf have not totally abandoned Belichick’s ideology. But it’s also clear they’re not afraid to throw out the bathwater.

Wolf made it pretty clear from the get-go that he wanted to draft, develop and — most important — retain players. And there were plenty of well-drafted and well-developed players on this roster.

Now this is all well and good. It sounds lovely. But there is a reason why Belichick has long avoided the second contract: the overspending. He was, for two decades, a master of replacing departing players with acquisitions who cost less.

Did the Patriots overpay for these three players?

The Patriots made Dugger the sixth-highest-paid safety in the NFL, according to average annual value. New England made Onwenu the fifth-highest-paid right tackle, per AAV. And if his AAV lands at $23.5 million, as the initial contract numbers indicate, the Patriots tied Barmore for seventh in the league among interior defensive linemen.

Yes, these were overpays.

Overspending is often how bad teams keep good players.

Does everyone want to play for the Chiefs right now? Yes. Just like they wanted to play for the Patriots during the peak of their dynasty. But the Chiefs — just like every other NFL team — are often looking for team-friendly deals.

The key to spending is ensuring there’s a safe return on investment. New England is taking a big risk on this unit. Barmore might just be the biggest risk of all, with his deal eclipsing a financial commitment larger than any Patriots player not named Tom Brady.

Barmore had a great 2023 season with 8.5 sacks and 64 tackles on 66% of snaps. He finished with 49 pressures and 40 stops, and he demonstrated the ability to play at multiple positions on the defensive line, per Pro Football Focus. While he predominantly played as a defensive tackle in his first two seasons, he played a much higher clip at both nose tackle and edge in 2023.

But that was just one year. The Patriots are paying him as if they expect him to produce like that every year. It remains to be seen whether he can maintain the quality of play from that impressive season.

This signing is as much about the 2024 draft class as it is about Barmore. Wolf is telling his current locker room: Trust us. And he’s saying the same thing to the incoming players. Because the Patriots are looking to the rookies to serve as foundational players in this rebuild.

Certainly, New England didn’t get better on paper through free agency. The organization didn’t make any major splash signings (though it tried with receiver Calvin Ridley, who ultimately signed with Tennessee). The offseason has been more about not losing key players than it has been about acquiring bona fide stars.

The Patriots used the draft to restock at positions where they’ve missed in recent years. Quarterback Drake Maye, the No. 3 overall pick, is set to replace Mac Jones. Receivers Ja’Lynn Polk, a second-rounder, and Javon Baker, a fourth-rounder, should take on more substantial roles than Tyquan Thornton and JuJu Smith-Schuster had. Tackle Caedan Wallace, a third-rounder, is a developmental tackle whom the Patriots hope will someday replace Trent Brown. Fourth-round guard Layden Robinson seems like insurance if former first-round pick Cole Strange continues to play poorly.

This draft felt like the foundation of a full reboot. These contract extensions are just the same. That’s the plan, at least. It’ll be up to Wolf and Mayo to make sure things go according to plan.

Prior to joining FOX Sports as the AFC East reporter, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @henrycmckenna.