Former Tennessee Titans tight end Jonnu Smith reached an agreement with the New England Patriots on a $ 50 million four-year deal that includes $ 31.25 million fully guaranteed, agent Drew Rosenhaus told Adam Schefter from ESPN.
The average annual value of $ 12.5 million under the Smith agreement is the second highest that the Patriots gave a free agent in the past 10 years behind the cornerback agreement Stephon Gilmore in 2017, which costs an average of $ 13 million per season, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
The Patriots also agreed to a two-year deal worth up to $ 16 million, which includes $ 9 million fully guaranteed with Davon Godchaux, formerly of Miami Dolphins, Rosenhaus told Schefter.
The Patriots entered the NFL leaders on Monday in terms of salary limits and were motivated to face the tight end, as life after Rob Gronkowski was a challenge for them. In the past two seasons, they have had the least number of receptions (55), receiving yards (673), targets (87) and receiving touchdowns (3) from tight ends in the NFL.
Smith took advantage of being the Titans’ primary tight end last season, scoring the best of his career with eight touchdowns, the second best on the team. He also had 41 receptions for 448 yards.
All eight of Smith’s touchdowns came in the red zone. The Patriots, as a team, had seven touchdown receptions in the red zone last season, the smallest in the NFL, according to data from ESPN Stats & Information.
Smith, 25, had a hot start and scored five touchdowns in the first four games, but was slowed down by an ankle injury in October.
An injury to the left tackle Taylor Lewan caused the Titans to use Smith’s blocking ability to aid Lewan’s backups. While Smith’s production declined as a result of being asked to chip defensive purposes, his versatility became more evident.
The tight end was selected in the third round of the 2017 draft. In four seasons, he managed 114 passes for 1,302 yards and 16 touchdowns. Smith was also used in the backfield at times and carried the ball six times for 82 yards, including a 57-yard touchdown run against the Houston Texans in 2019.
As for Godchaux, the Patriots’ running defense came in 26th in the NFL last season (131.4 yards per game), and opponents averaged 4.5 yards per load, ranking the New England defense in 20th in that category. .
The £ 1.80m and £ 311 Godchaux, which entered the NFL as a 2017 choice for LSU’s fifth round, should help address that. Two defensive tackles that have played notable roles for the Patriots over the past four seasons – Lawrence Guy and Adam Butler – are unrestricted free agents.
ESPN’s Mike Reiss and Turron Davenport contributed to this report.