On Thursday, the Rhamondre Stevenson agreed to a four year, $36 million extension with the New England Patriots. The deal includes $17 million guaranteed. The nine million dollars per year deal puts him near the top running back salaries in the league.
New Regime
The Patriots have turned over a new leaf. This year, the Patriots hired Jerod Mayo as their head coach to replace Bill Belichick. They also brought on Eliot Wolf as executive vice president of player personnel. These two signal a new era and new regime.
One thing that Belichick and the Patriots have been known for has been cycling through running backs and not always investing in this position. The team and their coaches have always succeeded in drafting and developing running backs, as they did with Stevenson.
This new regime has shown their willingness to spend money. They have agreed to multiple contracts this year with plenty of cap space. One of those signings was another running back. Antonio Gibson signed a three-year contract worth $11.25 million. Gibson comes over after spending his career so far with the Washington Commanders. He came out of college as a wide receiver and transitioned to running back. Gibson had extremely high expectations being compared to Christian McCaffrey by his head coach at the time. Gibson never quite lived up to these expectations and gets a new opportunity in the Patriots backfield.
Career
The Patriots drafted Stevenson in the fourth round in the 2021 draft. He had a solid rookie season with over 700 yards from scrimmage and five touchdowns. He more than doubled his yardage the following year. Stevenson’s second season was a success to the tune of almost 1500 yards from scrimmage and seven total touchdowns. His third season was a difficult one. The Patriots signed Ezekiel Elliott in the offseason. This was more of a depth signing but came into play late in the season. Stevenson went down with an ankle injury in week 13 that all but derailed his 2023-2024 season.
Throughout his career, Stevenson has been one of the lone bright spots on the New England Patriots. Since Tom Brady left for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the quarterback play has been inconsistent to say the least. The offense has struggled for much of these past seasons. The Patriots drafted Drake Maye with the third overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft with hope for the offensive woes to stop.
Fantasy Impact
Rhamondre Stevenson has been a top running back when healthy and his extension shows that he is now getting paid like one. The Patriots shelling out this big of a contract in the first year with new leaders is a clear indication of their plan. The team wants Stevenson to be a big part of their offense as Maye grows and develops.
Stevenson is currently ranked almost identically for both dynasty and redraft. Being that he is already 26, some may shy away from him in dynasty leagues. There is also concern for his redraft value due to his new head coach and rookie quarterback.
All of the potential concerns surrounding his offense are valid. His price, though, is a solid buy for dynasty and a great value pick in redraft leagues this fall.
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