The New England Patriots signed one of the top safeties available in this year’s free agency, bringing first-team All-Pro Kevin Byard aboard on a one-year contract. While the pact’s base value is $7 million, Byard actually will count $9 million against the Patriots’ cap in 2026.
The reason for that is quite simple. Besides the base, which consists of his $2.67 million salary as well as signing ($3.5M), roster ($680k) and workout bonuses ($150k), the pact also includes $2 million in playing time incentives. And given that Byard played 99.8% of defensive regular season snaps as a member of the Bears in 2025, all of them are considered likely to be earned (LTBE).
In full, a report by Ben Volin of the Boston Globe shows that the incentives are structure a follows.
S Kevin Byard: Contract incentives
Maximum incentives: $2,000,000
2026: Up to $2,000,000
$500,000: 80% defensive snaps
$500,000: 85% defensive snaps
$500,000: 90% defensive snaps
$500,000: 95% defensive snaps
Based on his track record, Byard living up to the LTBE classification of his incentives seems like a fairly safe bet. Only once in his career — during his 2016 rookie campaign with the Titans — did he fail to reach 80% of defensive snaps. In fact, he has played more than 96% of snaps in nine straight seasons and has not missed a single game since entering the league.
Byard remaining on that track at age 33 would therefore not be surprising, and in turn significantly boost the value of his deal. The Patriots, of course, would feel good about that as well: despite the increased salary cap number, having Byard available throughout the season is the ideal outcome of his one-year contract.
Should that happen and he reaches all four of his incentive escalators, nothing would change for New England from a salary cap perspective. Byard’s cap number, as mentioned above, already includes the full incentive volume. Should he fail to reach the proper levels, though, the team will get the appropriate credit of up to $2 million on its 2027 cap.