Former Tennessee Titans tight end Jonnu Smith has reached an agreement with the New England Patriots over a four-year, $ 50 million deal that includes $ 31.25 million fully guaranteed, the agent said. Drew Rosenhaus to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The $ 12.5 million annual average value of the Smith agreement is the second the Patriots have given a free agent in the last 10 years behind cornerback Stephon Gilmore’s 2017 agreement, which has a averaging $ 13 million per season, according to ESPN statistics and information.
The Patriots also agreed to a two-year deal worth up to $ 16 million, which includes $ 9 million fully guaranteed with the former Miami Dolphins nose attack Davon Godchaux, Rosenhaus told Schefter.
The Patriots entered the NFL leaders on Monday in the salary cap, and were motivated to tackle the tight situation as life after Rob Gronkowski has been a challenge for them. Over the past two seasons, they have received fewer receptions (55), receiving yards (673), goals (87) and touchdowns (3) from tight spots in the NFL.
Smith took advantage to be the first end of the Titans last season getting eight touchdowns of the race, the second most of the team. He also had 41 receptions for 448 yards.
Smith’s eight touchdowns hit the red zone. The Patriots as a team had seven touchdown recipes in the red zone last season, the fewest in the NFL, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
Smith, 25, started hot and scored five touchdowns during the first four games, but was slowed down by an ankle injury in October.
An injury to left-back Taylor Lewan caused the Titans to use Smith’s blocking ability to aid Lewan’s backups. Although Smith’s production fell as a result of being asked to make defensive fronts, his versatility became more evident.
The tight end was selected in the third round of the 2017 draft. In four seasons, he has caught 114 passes for 1,302 yards and 16 touchdowns. Smith was also used to the bottom field at times and carried the ball six times for 82 yards, including a 57-yard touchdown against the Houston Texans in 2019.
As for Godchaux, the Patriots defense ranked 26th in the NFL last season (131.4 yards per game), and opponents averaged 4.5 yards per carry, placing Nova’s defense England in 20th place in this category.
The 6-foot 3-foot, 311-pound Godchaux, who entered the NFL as a draft pick for LSU’s fifth round of 2017, should help fix that. Two defensive attacks that have played notable roles for the Patriots over the past four seasons – Lawrence Guy and Adam Butler – are unrestricted free agents.
ESPN’s Mike Reiss and Turron Davenport contributed to this report.