The New England Patriots have made sure to take care of their own to start the new regime. On Tuesday, the team agreed to a contract extension with linebacker Jahlani Tavai . According to ESPN's reporter Mike Reiss, it's a three-year, $15 million deal — and it can go up to $21 million based on incentives.
Culture component
Since Eliot Wolf took over as the top personnel executive — first as a de facto general manager, and later as the Executive vice president of player personnel — the Patriots have been proactive to extend some of their best players.
Besides securing good pieces for controlled prices, it sets a culture of rewarding important pieces of the organization.
Under Wolf, the Patriots had already extended running back Rhamondre Stevenson, tight end Hunter Henry, center David Andrews, tackle Michael Onwenu, defensive tackle Christian Barmore, and safety Kyle Dugger.
The Patriots idea is that they have a solid roster, and it can play at a higher level with a couple new pieces and better quarterback play.
Performance
Jahlani Tavai was originally a second-round pick by the Detroit Lions in 2019, when Matt Patricia was their head coach. After two mediocre seasons, though, he was released and ended up signing with the Patriots' practice squad in 2021. Tavai got promoted to the active roster in October 2021, and his role has gotten progressively bigger.
Last year, he played 74% of the defensive snaps and 78% of the special teams snaps. He finished the season with an 86.6 defensive grade by PFF, by far his career best, including an 86.2 run defense grade and an 82.7 coverage grade. Tavai was the fourth-highest graded linebacker in football, only behind Tyrel Dodson, Fred Warner, and Demario Davis.
Another role?
With the new kickoff rules , some teams are considering putting defensive players as kickoff specialists, allowing the unit to have an extra tackler on the field instead of a regular kicker. And Tavai is willing to do that.
"We haven't really experimented with it at all. But Jahlani [Tavai], he's knocking on my door every day," head coach Jerod Mayo said. "'I can do it, coach. I can do it.' It's like, just get healthy."
Tavai might not end up as a kickoff specialist, but that attitude shows how he is willing to do anything to help the team. Ultimately, that's why he got his new deal.
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