Patriots continue to reward their own as Christian Barmore gets rich extension

The Patriots continue to lock up players they feel are foundational, signing Christian Barmore to a four-year extension on Monday.

Barmore can make up to $92 million on the deal, with $41.8 million fully guaranteed. Despite interior defensive line contracts exploding in recent years, the soon-to-be fourth-year defensive tackle doesn't crack the top 10 highest-paid players at the position.

A second-round pick in 2021, Barmore has proven to be the best of a draft class that included former quarterback Mac Jones at the top and Rhamondre Stevenson.

His agent, Nicole Lynn, posted this to 'X:

"Three-years ago, Christian and I sat in the greenroom at the NFL Draft on night 1 and his name was not called. He would eventually slide to round 2, and that became one of the hardest nights of my career," Lynn wrote. "Fast forward, and now he is one of the highest-paid DTs. God is always faithful!"

Barmore stayed healthy in 2023-24 and had his best season, recording 64 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, 16 QB hits, and a career-high 8.5 sacks while also showing significant improvement against the run. For a team short on blue-chippers, Barmore is arguably the Pats headliner in that regard.

I asked the now-defensive coordinator, DeMarcus Covington, about Barmore's growth late last year. That improvement started with the 24-year-old's approach off the field.

"Every year, he's been better, growing on the field, off the field. I'm proud of the way he's worked," Covington said. "Consistency, for him, and that's what he's been doing. He's been doing a good job, and it started this offseason with him working, rehabbing, and doing a lot of things to get his body right in the classroom and really taking those things and taking it to the grass."