When the New England Patriots released former starting safety and team captain Jabrill Peppers in late-August and then later traded away their other starter at the position from 2024, Kyle Dugger, in late-October, part of the reasoning behind the moves was the improvement of Jaylinn Hawkins.
These decisions have paid off for the team, as Hawkins has gone from a role player and special teamer during the previous year to one of the NFL's top five safeties in 2025, according to Pro Football Focus' rankings.
Hawkins' breakout campaign has come while playing on a one-year/$1.8 million contract, and the Patriots should not blink when it comes time to give the California product a well-deserved pay raise that keeps him in New England.
It won't cost the Patriots too much to keep one of their best players around
In 2025, Hawkins posted career highs (or tied his previous best total) in interceptions (four), pass deflections (six), sacks (1.5), tackles for loss (three), and forced fumbles (one), despite missing two contests with a hamstring injury.
Meanwhile, his 71 tackles were the second most he's ever posted in a season, trailing only the 84 he put up in 2022.
That performance could land Hawkins a deal in his impending free agency worth upwards of $13 million more annually than he's currently making, according to PFF's Bradley Locker, who took a look at the deals similar players landed this past offseason.
"Tre’von Moehrig, Cam Bynum and Talanoa Hufanga cashed in solid pay last spring to the tune of $15 million or more per season. Hawkins very well may be next in line."
All three players listed are in their age-26 or -27 seasons (Hawkins is 28 years old) and have signed contracts of three to four years, with average salaries of about $13-$17 million, a potential reference point for what the Patriots may have to spend.
The Patriots have every reason to keep Hawkins beyond the 2025 season
Whenever a player has a breakout year later in their career, as Hawkins did during his sixth NFL season, there will be questions about whether it was an anomaly born of ideal circumstances. Maybe head coach Mike Vrabel and staff put him in a position to succeed?
Perhaps, he benefited from playing alongside an elite cornerback duo of Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis. Did Hawkins' former college teammate and fellow safety Craig Woodson help boost his play?
However, these are concerns for other teams, not the Patriots, who should take an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach to managing their defensive backfield this offseason. New England is set to have the 10th most cap space in the NFL next season, with over $54 million to spend, according to Spotrac, giving them plenty of money to both pay Hawkins and address other areas of need in free agency.
The deals signed by Moehrig, Bynum, and Hufanga may seem pricey to match, but even the most expensive of the bunch in terms of yearly value (Moehrig's pact with the Carolina Panthers) will only take up a little over 7% of the team's total cap space.
It's a reasonable price point for a top performer at his position, and Hawkins' eventual deal might even fall on the lower end of those three aforementioned players, given he's at least a year older than all of them.
Besides, the Patriots won't need to start pinching pennies until 2028, when it'll be time for Gonzalez to get a big payday of his own, and the team will be preparing to give quarterback Drake Maye the same in a year.
Giving Hawkins his market value now likely won't impact New England's ability to do either later, as with a projected length of three years, his money will only have a year of overlap with a possible Gonzalez deal, and be off the books when the franchise needs to sign Maye to his anticipated mega-deal.
New England should work quickly to lock Hawkins up though, before another franchise gets the opportunity to offer him more money or longer-term security than the Patriots are willing to compete with.