The New England Patriots and defensive tackle Davon Godchaux have agreed to a two-year, $20.8 million contract extension, according to his agents Drew Rosenhaus and Ryan Matha.
The move was likely an effort for New England not only to retain Godchaux for another year but also to free up salary cap space in 2022. Prior to this move, New England was one of the teams with the smallest amount of cap space at roughly $1.4 million.
Godchaux signed a two-year, $15-million deal in 2021 and he had $7.5 million due in new cash in 2022 and $2.75 million more hitting the salary cap in signing bonus. (That signing bonus, however, was already paid in 2021.) It will be interesting to see how the new deal is structured in terms of new money for Godchaux and salary cap space for the Patriots.
Patriots’ DT Davon Godchaux has signed a two-year, $20.8 million extension with New England that includes $17.85 million fully guaranteed at signing, per @DrewJRosenhaus and @RyanMatha, who negotiated the deal.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 27, 2022
The final question is whether the Patriots have made this move simply for the sake of having salary cap flexibility in the future — or whether they’re freeing up space to make an acquisition.
Either way, the Patriots will get another year of Godchaux, who is slated to stick with the team through 2023 in tandem with up-and-coming second-year defensive tackle Christian Barmore. Godchaux’s extension comes as something of a surprise given his inability to help New England stopping the run in 2021. But apparently, the Patriots think there’s plenty of upside for the 27-year-old defensive tackle.
