Defensive star's pending breakout means Patriots should take unusual step in 2025

The New England Patriots season has just begun. It commenced in an unexpectedly splendid fashion as they dominated and beat the Bengals in an upset win away at Cincinnati. It was a great beginning of a new season and era at Gillette Stadium with Jerod Mayo as Head Coach replacing Bill Belichick.

As the team looks forward to its opening game at Gillette Stadium, why would anyone be thinking about the next offseason? Well, the answer is that the offseason has to be considered anytime. It's that important.

Good teams, great teams are built in the offseason. While injuries can decimate even the best-formulated squads, without a solid offseason, don't expect anything but what you've put in place. You are what you build, then. That includes signing your best players to extensions, which is the subject here.

Keion White is an emerging NFL star

Keion White is one of Bill Belichick's best recent draft picks, along with Christian Barmore, both second-rounders. White is a hybrid defensive lineman with the physical skills and ability to play two or more positions on the defensive line/edge with aplomb.

White showed flashes in 2023 but was never used enough at his optimum position by former Head Coach Belichick. White is a very capable edge player. However, the need for that position last season was lessened with Matt Judon on hand.

Yet, when deployed at defensive tackle, he was unblockable by one offensive lineman, as his linemate, Barmore, was. This season, under Mayo, White is getting more reps in a gap inside, though that has been limited somewhat by the Judon trade, an ill-advised trade from the get-go.

Regardless, White, a tremendous athlete, emerged in the first game of 2024 with a staggering 2.5 sacks against Cincinnati. There is no question that if White remains healthy, he is on the precipice of stardom. Barmore broke out with 8.5 sacks in 2023, and White is on a pace to supersede that fabulous stat this season.

Of course, the season is 17 games. Yet, if he can maintain even a semblance of this type of performance throughout, it will be a mammoth accomplishment of Pro-Bowl, if not All-Pro proportions. Here's what all this dictates to the Patriots brass this next offseason.

The Patriots should sign Keion White to a contract extension next February

The Patriots' season will end in January (unless they hand the car keys to Drake Maye, it may very well be later). Whatever. Whenever it ends, assuming all is well on Keion White's health front, Executive VP of Personnel Eliot Wolf should make it priority No. 1 to sign Keion White to a long-term contract extension.

To his credit, Wolf has already departed from the Bill Belichick norm, not only by re-signing several top fourth-year players on the verge of free agency this offseason but also by extending Christian Barmore. The Barmore move was even more significant. It was only after his third season.

Yet, the optimal scenario is to sign your best four-year players (drafted after the first round) to extensions after their second year. This works for two main reasons. First, young players need one thing above all others: security. An extension, a longer one, provides that early in their careers. Never underestimate how important that is.

Secondly, moving early gives the team the opportunity, again in the case of their best four-year players, to lock up a top player at what will most likely be a team-friendly deal. It's a WIN-WIN-WIN situation for three parties: the player, the team, and the fans.

Things can and do change along the path of a long and grueling 17-game season in the NFL. Yet, should things remain on the current path, the first 2025 offseason move of the New England Patriots should be to sign Keion White to a long-term extension. It's the right thing to do.

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