Throughout Bill Belichick's tenure in New England, it wasn't often that any player was considered overpaid or undeserving of their contract, aside from a few exceptions. Instead, more often than not, it was the complete opposite, specifically for their superstar players like Tom Brady.
There's a fair argument to be made that the same could be said about a few players on the current roster, but Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report believes there is at least one player who is considered to be playing on a massive contract that he does not deserve: defensive tackle Christian Barmore.
The veteran received a hefty extension during the Jerod Mayo era two years ago, and at the time, while it seemed to be a lot of money for the production they had gotten out of Barmore, he wasn't a player worth giving up on, either.
The problem now is that he has a big salary to live up to, and analysts like Gagnon don't see his performance warranting his paycheck. That puts a lot of pressure on Barmore to prove the overpaid label wrong in 2026.
Christian Barmore has a chance to prove the naysayers wrong with a stellar 2026 season
Although there aren't many contracts on the Patriots roster that could be considered an overpay, Barmore fits the bill for a few reasons, as Gagnon points out, mostly all due to his performance.
He certainly turned a corner during the 2025 season in his partnership with Milton Williams, so the expectation is set that he will continue that growth this fall. Now that he's being called overpaid, perhaps that will motivate him even further.
"The interior defensive lineman show continues with Barmore, who has lacked both consistency and durability for much of his five-year run thus far in New England. The 26-year-old is a solid piece of the puzzle for the Patriots, but he's yet to live up to a top-20 positional AAV at $20.8 million."
Under the Mike Vrabel regime, there is a chance that if Barmore doesn't improve, they won't hesitate to move on from him and find another player to step into his place. They aren't the group that extended him, and while he was solid last season, he needs to keep on an upward trajectory, or they will view him and his contract as expendable.
His consistency over the years has been up and down, but some of that could be attributed to his ever-changing role on the team. He was once considered a pass rusher, but that hasn't been the case under Vrabel so far, and that could ultimately dictate his future in New England.
It's clear Barmore has a good mentor in Williams, even if he is older than his newest teammate, and their on-field collaboration has worked really well for the defense so far.
If he can build upon what he accomplished last season, then there might be reason to suggest his contract isn't all that bad. But if not, we might need to revisit this conversation.