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Patriots reportedly agree to three-year contract with Carlton Davis
The deal reportedly includes $34.5 million in guaranteed money.
The Patriots appear to be following through on this year’s claim from new head coach Mike Vrabel to “be aggressive” in free agency.
According to multiple reports, the Patriots have agreed with free agent cornerback Carlton Davis on a three-year contract worth $60 million, including $34.5 million in guaranteed money.
Davis, 28, played the 2024 season with the Lions, recording two interceptions and 11 pass breakups. He was originally drafted by the Bucs as a second-round pick in 2018, and played alongside Tom Brady as Tampa won Super Bowl LV over the Chiefs.
With Detroit, Davis helped the defensive backfield limit opposing offenses to the second fewest touchdown passes in the NFL in 2024. With New England, he will line up alongside Christian Gonzalez, promising to immediately become one of the more talented duos in the AFC.
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Prior to free agency, Davis said that he was going to find a better deal than what he’d originally achieved after his contract with the Buccaneers expired in 2022.
“I feel like last time, I just kind of panicked,” Davis told The Athletic’s Mike Silver. “I was younger, and my mindset was, ‘I need to go ahead and just choose.’ At the time, the thinking was, ‘This is the offer, and the more you wait, the more that number’s gonna go down.’ Yeah, that can happen, but teams know your value, and right now I’m playing my best football.
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“This time, I ain’t gonna settle for less.”
The Patriots have plenty of salary cap space to pursue what already appears to be a plethora of offseason additions. According to Over the Cap, New England is the only NFL team with more than $100 million to (potentially) spend.
“I like to shop like everybody else,” Vrabel told reporters at the recent rookie combine. “So, when you go and there’s only one of a certain car, maybe you have to pay a little bit more for that one car because there’s only one of them. When you start to get into a range where you feel like there’s an area where players are comparable and you like three or four players in a certain area for a certain role, you may not have to overspend.”
“But it’s free agency,” he added, “I think everybody overspends sometimes in free agency.”
So far, Vrabel’s tenure has already overseen the reported signings of defensive end Harold Landry, linebacker Robert Spillane, and offensive tackle Morgan Moses to go along with the addition of Davis.
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