New England signed Ximines as a free agent on Monday.
Even with the NFL Draft in the rear-view mirror, the New England Patriots are staying busy. Besides releasing offensive tackle Conor McDermott and signing defensive lineman Christian Barmore to a four-year contract extension, the team also acquired edge linebacker Oshane Ximines in free agency.
What does adding the 27-year-old mean for the Patriots, though? Let’s assess his arrival with that question in mind.
The Patriots increase their edge depth
Coming out of the draft and the subsequent rookie free agency period, the Patriots had five quote-on-quote pure edge defenders on their roster. Matthew Judon, Anfernee Jennings and Joshuah Uche were the clear top three in the rotation, with William Bradley-King and UDFA pickup John Morgan rounding out the group
Where exactly Ximines fits onto the depth chart will be seen, but he adds another body to the mix. And as a look at his track record in the NFL shows — more on it in a second — he currently can be regarded as a realistic candidate for that fourth spot behind Judon, Jennings and Uche.
That being said, the Patriots traditionally have manned their edge quite flexibly. Players such as off-ball linebacker Jahlani Tavai or defensive linemen Deatrich Wise Jr. and Keion White also have served end-of-the-line roles with relative regularity in the past. They too will factor into the mix, therefore, and might even make keeping a fourth edge redundant.
New England gets an experienced defender, in more ways than one
Coming off a five-year career at Old Dominion — where he played alongside Keion White for two years — Ximines was selected 95th overall in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft. He spent the next five years with the New York Giants, appearing in a combined 50 regular season and playoff games.
Primarily seeing action on passing downs, he was inconsistent applying pressure and registered just 6.5 total sacks. He also has one forced fumble and one recovery to his name.
While uneven performance and injuries contributed to him never living up to his draft status — and eventually led to him being demoted to a practice squad role before his eventual release last November — Ximines does offer experience. That is true both to his on-field workload, and his time with a member of the Patriots coaching staff.
New England’s outside linebackers coach Drew Wilkins, after all, got a first-hand look at Ximines the last two years when he was an assistant with the Giants. How actively he lobbied for the signing, if at all, is not known, but there is a certain element of familiarity between player and coach.
Ximines offers a versatile skillset
The 6-foot-4, 245-pound defender has seen action all over the defensive line during his career, aligning both in a three- and a two-point stance along the way. He was asked to set the edge in the run game, rush the passer, and drop back into coverage; he played primarily on the line but has accumulated 38 combined snaps playing off the ball as well.
The extent of his versatility extends beyond defense: Ximines also has quite a bit of special teams reps on his résumé, playing a combined 572 kicking game snaps during his career (compare to 1,376 on defense). His statistical production in the game’s third phase is nothing to write home about — two tackles in five years — but he has varying degrees of experience on five units.
Between 2019 and 2023, the Giants used him on kickoff coverage and return, punt coverage and return, and the field goal/extra point blocking unit. He also fielded a kickoff and ran it back 5 yards during his rookie season.
The salary cap will likely not be impacted too much
Ximines’ contract details are not yet available, but the expectation is that his contract will not leave too big a dent in the Patriots’ books. If he signed a veteran’s minimum deal for a player of his experience without the inclusion of any signing or workout bonuses, his cap number would be $1.125 million.
Given that he would push a lower-salary player from the Top-51 list, New England would lose just $140,000 in cap space in that scenario. How accurate that estimation actually is, however, has to be seen.
The general point about his cap impact being limited still remains, though.
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