The former Browns linebacker agreed to a two-year deal on Monday night.
A flurry of activity Monday night saw the New England Patriots agree to a two-year contract with linebacker Sione Takitaki. The former third-round pick out of BYU is quite familiar with the Patriots new regime off the field, and if he hits his ceiling on the field his new deal will pay him a maximum value of $10 million.
From a big-picture perspective, here’s what adding the 28-year old means for the Patriots.
Linebacker depth
After losing Mack Wilson Sr. on Monday to the Arizona Cardinals, the Patriots needed additional depth along their linebacking core. That is what Takitaki provides, as he comes to New England with 72 career games (36 starts) under his belt.
Takitaki saw times at all three linebacker roles during his time in Cleveland, especially in the past two seasons as he played over 60 percent of the team’s defensive snaps. He proved to be a sturdy run defender and also added three pass breakups and an interception in his 2023 campaign.
Positional outlook
With Takitaki entering Foxboro and Wilson on the way out, New England now has five linebackers under contract entering next season. That group includes Ja’Whaun Bentley and Jahlani Tavai, who will most likely remain the Patriots’ top early down options at the position. Raekwon McMillan could also factor into that equation as he returns from an achilles injury.
Lastly is linebacker/safety hybrid Marte Mapu. The hope is Wilson’s departure opens the door for Mapu to play more of a passing-down role down along the second level. Takitaki could then likely serve as versatile backup splitting time at each spot.
Moving forward, the Patriots will likely add more bodies at the position for training camp but could comfortably enter the season with those five (the total number on their original 53-man roster last season).
Special teams philopshy
Entering the league in 2019, Takitaki originally served as a primary special teamer for the Browns. Despite seeing increased defensive snaps the past two seasons, Takitaki still served as a valuable special teamer when needed.
As specialist Chris Board is set to be released on Wednesday, the addition of Takitaki could again highlight a new team building philosophy of the new Patriots’ regime. That consists of less pure special teams players on the roster in favor of more role players who can contribute in different areas of the kicking game.
Wolf’s guy
New England’s de facto general manager Eliot Wolf made his mark on the Patriots’ coaching staff. The Takitaki signing now marks the first player Wolf previously had ties to before coming to the Patriots organization.
Wolf served as the Browns’ assistant general manager back in 2019 when the team selected Takitaki in the third-round of the NFL Draft. New Patriots’ senior personnel executive, Alonso Highsmith, was also a member of Cleveland’s front office at that time.
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