New England Patriots
Kevin Byard has recorded 36 interceptions over his 10-year NFL profession.
The New England Patriots are reportedly including a veteran chief to their secondary.
Per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Patriots are signing veteran security Kevin Byard to a one-year, $9 million deal.
Byard will flip 33 earlier than the beginning of the 2026 season. However there’s nonetheless loads of tread left on these tires, on condition that the hard-hitting security is coming off a 2025 marketing campaign with the Bears the place he earned each Professional Bowl and first-team All-Professional honors.
Listed here are 4 issues to find out about New England’s newest addition to its defensive unit.
He’s a ball hawk
The Patriots’ protection was a formidable unit through the 2025 season, rating fourth within the league with simply 18.8 factors allowed per sport. They had been additionally simply one in all 13 NFL groups that had a optimistic turnover differential this previous 12 months — however solely at plus-3 on the season.
If New England is attempting to ramp up these turnover totals in 2026, bringing in a security like Byard makes loads of sense.
Byard performed a key position within the Bears’ absurd plus-22 turnover differential final season — tops within the league and 5 greater than the second-place Texans. The veteran led the NFL with seven interceptions on the season, serving as a thorn within the aspect of opposing QBs all through the autumn.
He was greater than only a turnover machine final season, closing out the 12 months with 93 mixed tackles (61 solo), eight move deflections, and 4 tackles for a loss.
His seven picks had been additionally removed from an outlier. He has 36 complete interceptions over his 10 seasons within the NFL — additionally main the league in interceptions (eight) through the 2017 season in Tennessee.
In complete, he has three First Staff All-Professional nods in his profession — incomes the consideration in 2017, 2021, and 2025.
He has loads of familiarity with Mike Vrabel
It ought to come as little shock that Byard had an curiosity in signing with New England, past the crew’s success in 2025.
He has a historical past with Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel, as he performed for Vrabel from 2018-23 throughout their time along with the Titans.
Byard established himself as one of many premier safeties within the league below Vrabel’s watch, with the previous 2016 third-round pick of Center Tennessee State College going from a promising rookie to an All-Professional expertise throughout Vrabel’s first 12 months on the helm.
Talking final summer time about Patriots veteran Hunter Henry, Vrabel compared him to Byard in terms of his poise – each on and off the sector.
“Similar to Kevin Byard. “I’m not massive on comparisons, simply speaking about personalities,” Vrabel stated in July 2025. “Kevin was actually assured and cozy. He by no means appeared harassed. You’d look and see some youthful gamers perhaps on the similar place and so they’d be sweating earlier than the play would begin.”
“They had been making checks and every little thing else and working,” he added. “And Kevin simply all the time had a really calm, assured demeanor and was a wonderful participant for us. I really feel the identical about Hunter.”
In January 2025, Byard additionally had loads of reward for Vrabel.
“Positively one in all my all-time favourite coaches. Most likely the neatest soccer thoughts I’ve been round,” Byard told CHGO Sports.
He hasn’t missed a sport in his NFL profession
Given each his age and the hard-hitting nature of his position on protection, it wouldn’t come as a lot of a shock if Byard needed to miss the occasional sport or two over the course of his decade-long profession.
However the veteran has really been one of the vital sturdy gamers within the league through the years — not missing a single game as a consequence of harm throughout his 10 seasons with the Titans, Eagles, and Bears.
He has performed by way of his justifiable share of accidents alongside the way in which. Through the 2017 season, he performed 9 video games with a sprained AC joint. Six years later, he performed the ultimate 4 video games of the 2023 season with a torn labrum.
“I don’t get it with some guys across the league,” Byard told The Athletic’s Dan Wiederer of staying on the field. “You labored your ass off by way of highschool to make it in faculty. You labored your ass off in faculty to open the doorways to the league. Now, shouldn’t you be going 1,000 occasions more durable to make this final? That is the time to mash the gasoline.”
Even at 32 years previous, Byard played in 99.8 percent of Chicago’s defensive snaps through the 2025 season.
He was a legend at Center Tennessee State
The Center Tennessee Blue Raiders may compete within the FBS division of school soccer as a member of Convention USA.
But it surely was a testomony to the resume that Byard compiled throughout his tenure in Murfreesboro, Tennessee that he nonetheless managed to get chosen with the primary choose within the third spherical (No. 63 total) within the 2016 NFL Draft.
Byard stuffed the stat sheet throughout his time with the Blue Raiders, recording 318 mixed tackles, 19 interceptions (4 returned for touchdowns), three compelled fumbles, and 15 move deflections.
For his efforts, Byard had his No. 20 jersey retired by Center Tennessee in 2022 — turning into simply the second participant at school historical past to obtain that honor.
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