A frightening report from late last month noted that Patriots DT Christian Barmore was diagnosed with blood clots. At the time, it was too early to speculate on his NFL future, but we now have some additional information to pass along.
This year, up to two players that are placed on injured reserve on cutdown day can be activated during the season (previously, a player had to be on the 53-man roster on cutdown day and then placed on IR in order to be eligible for activation, which led to a significant amount of seemingly needless roster machinations). According to Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald, Barmore is one of New England’s top candidates to benefit from the new rule (safety Marte Mapu is the other player that Kyed names).
In other words, there is a chance that Barmore will play this season. As Kyed notes, the 25-year-old defender has not yet been placed on a season-ending reserve list, so the Pats are at least holding out hope for a 2024 return.
That would obviously represent a key development for the club’s defense. In his 2023 breakout, Barmore logged a 66% snap share and recorded career highs in sacks (8.5), total tackles (64), tackles for loss (13), quarterback hits (16), pass deflections (six), and forced fumbles (one). The advanced metrics supported that surface-level production, with Pro Football Focus ranking Barmore as the eighth-best interior defender in the NFL.
On the strength of that performance, the 2021 second-rounder became one of a number of Patriots to land an extension from the club’s new regime, inking a four-year deal worth up to $92MM in April. Clearly, New England saw Barmore’s 2023 effort as a sign of things to come and not a one-year blip.
While the Pats await Barmore’s return, they will turn to Daniel Ekuale as his primary replacement, as Kyed writes. While Ekuale has been utilized primarily on passing downs since coming to Foxborough in 2021, he has the size (6-3, 310) to operate as a three-technique defensive tackle.
Like Ekuale, the similarly-sized Trysten Hill has quietly had a strong camp, per ESPN’s Mike Reiss. Nonetheless, Reiss expects the club to trawl the waiver wire for a run-stuffing DT – and additional offensive line help – when teams across the league make their final cutdowns this week (that is especially true since free agent pickup Armon Watts has failed to impress). New England has No. 3 waiver priority so should have an opportunity to claim some of the more intriguing cuts from rival clubs.
If he never plays again how would this affect his new contract that starts next season ?