Sunday Patriots Notes: Davon Godchaux shares thoughts on contract situation

Notes and thoughts on the Patriots and the NFL on June 30.

The New England Patriots remain on summer break as the start of training camp loams less than a month away.

With things remaining mostly quiet down at One Patriot Place, let’s clean out the notebook with our Sunday Patriots Notes.

1. Godchaux’s message: First-year executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf and head coach Jerod Mayo have been busy re-signing players this offseason. In addition to Rhamondre Stevenson’s recent four-year extension, Kendrick Bourne, Hunter Henry, Christian Barmore, Joshua Uche, Kyle Dugger, Mike Onwenu, Anfernee Jennings, and David Andrews all received new deals the past few months.

There may still be work to do, however.

As the Patriots took the practice fields for mandatory minicamp on June 10 and 12, veteran defenisve tackle Davon Gadchaux was largely an observer. The 29-year old did not take part in any team drills and was instead seen running sprints on the opposite field, a move that drew flashbacks to Matthew Judon’s unofficial “hold-in” last summer.

Godchaux is in the final season of the two-year, $20.8 million extension he signed in 2022 and has no guaranteed money remaining. As he looks to become the next player to see his deal reworked, he spoke on the matter for the first time this week on social media.

Hopefully we can get something done that’s fair to me and my team before camp starts! I love NE, I would love to retire here but it’s has to make sense for us! What I do on the football field in the trenches most of time doesn’t show on the stat sheet but turn on the film you will see it if “U know” ball! Would love to finish my career here in NE but it has to make sense to me and my team!

Playing nearly 60 percent of the defensive snaps in each season with New England, Godchaux has done well handling the dirty work up front. As he noted it won’t lead to appealing statistics, but his ability to absorb double teams and defeat single blocks played a key role in the Patriots third-best run defense in 2023.

“We want him here. He’s one of our best players,” Mayo said. “He’s working. I will say that. He is working. He’s here every single day, has been here every single day. We look forward to getting him on the field in camp.”

Godchaux sits in a similar camp as Judon, as Mayo noted their are several players who hope to “re-do” their contracts. Judon also enters the last year of his contract that includes zero guarenteed money as well. The pass rusher was a full participant in mandatory minicamp, however, as he shared last year’s way of doing things “was trash.”

Dynamics are certainly different down at One Patriot Place with Wolf and Mayo in charge, which will continue to lead to contract matters, such as Godchaux’s, being closely watched.

“What I will say is one thing I’ve learned is sometimes the value that the team has on a person is a little bit different than the value that the market has on a person,” Mayo shared. “So, those are just things I’m learning, guys. Like I told you guys before, I’m green, but I’m learning. I’m evolving, and these are the conversations that have to be had.”

2. Something to prove: A statical dip in production last season led to Joshua Uche signing just a one-year, $3 million dollar contract in free agency this past offseason. It may be a way for Uche to bet on himself to perhaps get back to his 2022 production (career-high 11.5 sacks) and re-hit the market.

On Pro Football Focus, Uche was named one of 10 players in the NFL with the most to prove in 2024.

Uche was sensational in 2022, amassing 56 pressures on only 285 pass-rush snaps. Despite having a similar workload last year, Uche mustered just 37 pressures, while his total number of defensive stops dropped from 19 to 6.

The four-year pro has been harangued by injuries throughout his career, but he has been good in two of his four seasons (2020 and 2022). The other two haven’t gone according to plan. Now on a one-year deal, Uche needs to prove he’s more than a flash in a pan if he wants to hang around as a bona fide starter.

3. Mayo-TB12: Head coach Jerod Mayo earned the nickname “Bill Jr.” during his playing days due to his football IQ and work. Mayo also reminded teammates of New England’s former quarterback, as Rob Gronkowski called Mayo the “Tom Brady on the Patriots defensive side of the ball” in a recent appearance on “Games with Names.”

“Jerod Mayo was just a phenomenon on the football field with lining every one up and also in the meeting rooms as well,” Gronkowski said. “He knew where every player needed to be during any situation that occurred on the defensive side of the ball.”

“I always had to look at Jerod,” Edelman added. “I knew what I had to do but I would always ask to get the approval from Jerod because if Jerod said that, you knew it was right. He got everyone lined up. He was the man.”

4. “Bottom-feeders”: Bleacher Report’s Brandon Thorn, known as one of the top offensive line analyst, released his annual offensive line rankings this week. The Patriots group — which from left to right went Chuks Okorafor, Sidy Sow/Cole Strange, David Andrews, Layden Robinson, Michael Onwenu — ranked 31st in the league. They slotted in just one spot above the Washington Commanders unit in Tier 6, labeled the “Bottom Feeders”.

Notes: New England is set to enter the first year of a new, post-Belichick this season with a rookie quarterback in Drake Maye who was selected third overall and an expectedly shaky line in front of him. The team somehow is projected to have former Steelers mediocre-at-best right tackle Chukwuma Okorafor as their starting blindside protector with at least some question marks everywhere aside from center David Andrews, who is still a solid player. Last year, the team had a strong run-blocking fun on the right side with Mike Onwenu and Sidy Sow, but that pairing is at risk of being split up due to 2021 first-round pick Cole Strange rehabbing an injury that could see him miss time this season. There is potential for the interior trio to develop into a functional unit as the year progresses, but pass protection off of the edges will be dicey at best.

Thorn did, however, share he would like the group more with Onwenu at right guard and rookie Caedan Wallace at right tackle — a group the Patriots used to conclude minicamp.

5. Back home: The Patriots rookie class concluded 10 days of strength and conditioning work following the end of minicamp and are now free to head elsewhere until July 19 when they are due to report back for training camp. Rookie quarterback Drake Maye plans to head back home to the Charlotte area at some point where he’ll work with Clyde Christensen at the University of North Carolina.

Christensen, who spent last season with Maye as an offensive analyst on UNC’s staff, has worked with plenty of successful NFL quarterbacks in his pasts, including Peyton Manning, Andrew Luck, and Tom Brady in his Tampa Bay days. As Maye will continue to build off the progress he made throughout the spring in Foxboro, he is also looking forward to some quiet time with family.

“First real break I’ve had in a long process,” Maye said. “So, spend time with family but still get to work, we got a season to get ready for.”

6. Bill’s coaching offer: Bill Belichick will not be roaming a sideline for the first time in decades this upcoming season. But, it turns out he did in fact have one coaching offer.

During a recent ESPN interview, Premier Lacrosse League president and co-founder Paul Rabil shared that Philadelphia Waterdogs head coach Bill Tierney tried to convince Belichick to join his staff as defensive coordinator.

7. Manning Camp: The annual Manning Passing Academy was held this past week down in Louisiana, which saw Belichick get back to coaching in the football world. He was in attendance along with former Patriots coordinator Matt Patricia and had extensive chats with Texas’ Quinn Ewers and Alabama’a Jalen Milroe.

8. Top-ranked unit: As Pro Football Focus continued their 2024 unit rankings, the Patriots’ linebacker group was rated the fourth-best in football.

Jahlani Tavai’s third season with the Patriots was the best of his career. He posted an 82.7 PFF coverage grade and allowed just one touchdown in coverage. Ja’Whaun Bentley has earned a PFF grade above 65.0 in all but one of his six NFL seasons.

New England’s signing of Sione Takitaki is also a nice fit, with the former third-round draft pick out of BYU coming off a career-high 70.7 PFF grade with the Cleveland Browns.

9. 37.5: Rhamondre Stevenson sits 3,188 rushing yards away from the Patriots all-time franchise leader, Sam Cunningham (5,453 yards). After signing a four-year extension that carries through the 2028 season, Stevenson would need to average just 37.5 rushing yards per game (in a 17 game season) to pass Cunningham during that time.

10. Setting up the week ahead: The wait for training camp rolls on as the Patriots once again are off this upcoming week.