Patriots' Cheapest Free Agent Signing May be Their Best

In the midst of all the hoopla of the New England Patriots signing wide receiver Stefon Diggs to a three-year deal earlier this week, you may have missed the small addition the Patriots made on Wednesday: inking edge rusher K'Lavon Chaisson to a one-year, $3 million contract.

The deal contains only $500,000 in guaranteed money, making Chaisson one of the cheaper signings of free agency in general. And you know what? It may have been the shrewdest move the Patriots have made all month.

Chaisson is a former first-round draft pick who spent the first four years of his career with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was a major disappointment in Jacksonville, amassing a grand total of just five sacks throughout his tenure with the club.

However, this past season, Chaisson joined the Las Vegas Raiders and logged 32 tackles and five sacks in 15 games. He played in 52 percent of the Raiders' defensive snaps and saw a massive uptick in playing time later in the campaign as he began to produce at a fairly high level.

As a matter of fact, the 25-year-old posted an impressive 74.7 pass-rushing grade over at Pro Football Focus in 2024, which ranked 26th out of 211 qualifying edge rushers.

To call this a low-risk, high-reward signing would be putting it lightly. Chaisson was a first-round pick for a reason, as he displayed considerable potential during his final season at LSU in 2019, helping the Tigers win a national championship with 60 tackles, 14 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks.

Obviously, Chaisson did not materialize like Jacksonville had hoped, and his sample size of impressive play in Las Vegas was admittedly small. But there is no question that the Houston native showed major flashes of potential this past year and displayed why he was initially regarded so highly when he first entered the NFL.

Chaisson will join a Patriots' edge-rushing group that now also includes Harold Landry, so New England could ultimately boast a pretty solid duo at the position in 2025.

This was a terrific move by the Pats, and it's one that deserves more attention.