What signing Khyiris Tonga in free agency means for the Patriots

The veteran defensive lineman joined the team on a one-year contract.

The New England Patriots went defense-heavy with their early free agency signings, including two players who were added along the interior line. Milton Williams was the headline-grabber among them, but Khyiris Tonga also should not fly under the radar: signing a one-year, $2.1 million deal, he projects to find a role up front.

Let’s take a deeper dive into what adding him to the equation means for the Patriots.

There’s the beef

With Tonga and the aforementioned Milton Williams added to the mix, plus the re-signing of Jeremiah Pharms Jr. via a two-year deal, the Patriots were left with eight interior defensive linemen after the first wave of free agency. As a look at the group shows, Tonga stands out among them:

Interior defensive line (8): Christian Barmore (90), Milton Williams (97), Keion White (99), Khyiris Tonga (95), Jeremiah Pharms Jr. (98), Jaquelin Roy (94), Eric Johnson (96), Marcus Harris (58)

What makes the newest Patriot different from the other seven IDLs? It’s his size.

Standing at 6-foot-2, Tonga weighs 335 pounds — making him the heaviest player along the New England’s defensive line. The closest to him weight-wise are Eric Johnson and Christian Barmore, who are listed at 320 and 315, respectively.

Davon Godchaux replacement

Tonga’s size suggests that the team has a plan for him in mind: to replace Davon Godchaux, who was traded to the New Orleans Saints earlier this month. Both Godchaux and Tonga share a similar skillset as big-bodied space eaters up front who are best suited to enter the field on early downs and in short-yardage situations.

While not quite as established as Godchaux, Tonga has shown that he can be a serviceable player in the running game.

As opposed to fellow free agency pickup Milton Williams, Tonga’s role projects to be more passive: he is not built to shoot gaps and aggressively attack upfield, something New England’s new coaching staff values highly. Nonetheless, the expectation is that he will be able to carve out a rotational role that will allow the Patriots to remain flexible between odd and even fronts.

Room for more additions

Even though Tonga and Williams are now part of the mix, the Patriots’ defensive line as a whole still has potential for further additions. Those will likely come through the draft: the defensive tackle group is considered particularly deep this year, which in turn might allow New England to find quality even in the later rounds.

Spending a Day 3 pick on a developmental interior lineman would make sense, too. Not only is Tonga on a one-year deal, the situation beyond the top four — Barmore, Williams, White, Tonga — is also somewhat unclear, even considering Jeremiah Pharms Jr.’s two-year extension.

Career deal

Maybe it is a reflection of the increased salary cap, the market for his services being competitive, or the Patriots feeling highly about him, but Tonga signed the best deal of his soon-to-be five-year career to come to Foxboro. In terms of total value and annual average ($2.1 million) it clearly surpasses his previous career mark, and it more than doubles the guaranteed money invested in him over the course of his career ($1 million).

Tonga will count $2.02 million against New England’s salary cap this season, the 28th highest number on the team.