The New England Patriots are in the midst of their first year under head coach Mike Vrabel as he builds out his program in New England. Given the team's early success, it's worth considering that there are a handful of essential players on expiring contracts and set to become free agents after this season.
To start, the Patriots re-signed Marcus Jones to a three-year, $36 million contract extension after a phenomenal start to the season. He's performing at an All-Pro level this season, and by re-signing him, the Patriots avoid having to deal with Jones hitting free agency and potentially losing him in 2026.
Sticking with the defense, New England will have three starters become free agents at the end of the season with Khyiris Tonga, Jaylinn Hawkins, and K'Lavon Chaisson. All these players have proven their ability to learn Vrabel's defensive system and be versatile when executing it.
With that, all of these three players are on the field more often than not and have some of the highest defensive snap counts on the team this season.
- Jaylinn Hawkins: 390 snaps (73.58%)
- K'Lavon Chaisson: 319 snaps (60.19%)
- Khyiris Tonga: 206 snaps (38.87%)
1. K'Lavon Chaisson
The Patriots have been slightly weak at the edge position this season, only having Chaisson and Harold Landry as the main producers at the spot. Together, the pair is tied with 5.5 sacks each, which is also tied for the team-high after nine weeks.
Retaining Chaisson will be important for the Patriots moving forward. The defender has fit in tremendously with Vrabel's defense. He is in the right age group at 26 years old, in his sixth year in the NFL, and he wants to be in New England for the long haul.
The edge is a position of need for the Patriots, both now and in the future. Securing Chaisson for the long term should be a priority for New England moving forward.
2. Jaylinn Hawkins
For what it's worth, Hawkins has shown to be an important part of the defense, despite it looking rough at times. With that, Vrabel also trusts him at safety while working next to a rookie starter in Craig Woodson.
Hawkins ranks sixth on the team in total tackles (32), tied for the most interceptions (2), and has the fourth-most sacks on the team (1.5). There is room for improvement, but having continuity on the team is important to Vrabel, so retaining Hawkins seems to be the wise decision for next season as he’s part of the core of the defense now.
3. Khyiris Tonga
Tonga has been the most underrated player on the team this season. He holds his own along the defensive line and is a key reason why the Patriots have a top run defense that hasn’t allowed a running back to cross the 50-yard plateau against them this season.
He’s not going to be in the backfield sacking the quarterback often, as he’s only done that once in his career during the 2022 season, but Tonga doesn’t allow much to get by him. He is a run stopper and that should have value in this aggressive defensive scheme.
Tonga is a great compliment to have on the defensive line next to Christian Barmore and Milton Williams. He’s also a player that Vrabel enjoys having on his team and is starting to get used as a fullback on goal line situations as we saw in Week 9.
Re-signing Tonga should be a priority.
4. Jack Gibbens
Backup linebacker Jack Gibbens is another underrated player on the Patriots’ defense this season who they must strongly consider bringing back next season.
Gibbens is primarily used on special teams, but he has the experience of playing under Vrabel in Tennessee. In this defensive system, with this coaching staff, that experience is invaluable institutional knowledge that is worth having on the team.
Vrabel has always had an affinity for Gibbens, from signing him as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2022 to signing him three years later in New England. Gibbens fits the mold of a "Vrabel guy" that we should get accustomed to having on the team in the future.