Patriots discussing contract extension with defensive standout

The New England Patriots are looking to keep Christian Barmore in town for the foreseeable future.

Barmore and the team have have had ongoing contract extension discussions, ESPN's Mike Reiss reported Thursday. It's unclear if a deal is imminent, although Reiss used the word ‘motivated' to describe the talks.

New England is on the clock to get a deal done for Barmore this offseason. He became extension-eligible, but he's also entering the final year of his rookie deal. While they could get a done deal during the season, typically players of Barmore's stature who are on rookie deals will pause contract negotiations during the regular season.

Barmore's emergence also came at the right time. He had a career year in 2023, recording 64 combined tackles (13 tackles for loss), 8.5 sacks and a forced fumble to go with 49 pressures and 40 run stops. He really picked up his play toward the end of the season, recording 5.5 sacks and 23 pressures in the final seven games of the season.

What kind of contract could Christian Barmore command from Patriots?

Of course, the big question is what the price tag would be to retain Barmore. A three-year, $41.5 million deal with $23 million guaranteed, which was projected by The Boston Herald‘s Andrew Callahan projected earlier in the offseason.

It would make sense for Barmore as it uses the framework of the deal DaVon Hamilton received from the Jacksonville Jaguars this offseason (three years, $34.5 million). Both players have a similar background.

However, that might be a bit of a modest projection. Hamilton was a 2020 third-round pick who only has 4.5 career sacks while Barmore, a second-round pick in 2021, has been showing signs of improvement throughout his career.

Barmore could stand to play the waiting game as well. Defensive tackles were among the highest-paid players earlier this offseason.

Chris Jones signed a five-year, $158.75 million extension to remain with the Kansas City Chiefs. Christian Wilkins nabbed a four-year, $110 million deal from the Las Vegas Raiders. Justin Madubuike cashed in after his fourth-year breakout, receiving a four-year, $98 million deal to re-sign with the Baltimore Ravens.

The Patriots have shown more of a priority to retaining their own free agents in their first offseason after Bill Belichick's departure. They've re-signed players they've drafted, such as Mike Onwenu, Kyle Dugger, Josh Uche and Anfernee Jennings. They've also retained some veterans on new deals, re-signing Hunter Henry and Kendrick Bourne to multi-year deals.

That's a big change from how Belichick conducted business in his final seasons with the team. Prior to this offseason, 2013 third-round pick Duron Harmon was the last player selected in the first three rounds of the draft to sign a second contract with the Patriots, doing so in 2017.

De facto general manager Eliot Wolf and Jerod Mayo have both consistently stated the importance of retaining their own players as they look to build a strong culture following Belichick's departure.

Extending Barmore would certainly solidify that.