Patriots are paying Chukwuma Okorafor like a potential starter, contract details show

Okorafor signed a one-year, $4 million deal to join the Patriots in free agency.

The New England Patriots made their first move of free agency before the market even opened, signing offensive tackle Chukwuma Okorafor to a one-year contract on Thursday. Okorafor was released by the Pittsburgh Steelers in February, meaning that he was already available to be added to the Patriots’ roster.

What kind of role the 26-year-old will end up playing remains to be determined, but a look at his contract shows that the team is paying him like a potential starter. Not only are there $3.125 million in guarantees, Okorafor can also more than double the $4 million base value due to incentives.

Chukwuma Okorafor: Contract details

2024:
Base salary: $1.125 million*
Signing bonus: $2 million*
Roster bonus: $680,000
Workout bonus: $195,000
Incentives: $4.25 million
Salary cap hit: $4 million

*fully guaranteed

A third-round draft pick by the Steelers in 2018, Okorafor is being paid the minimum salary for a player of his experience. However, the Patriots decided to fully guarantee that salary while also giving him a $2 million signing bonus proration — an indication that a) the market for his services might have been competitive, and b) New England expects him on its 53-man roster this fall.

As noted above, there is no telling at the moment what kind of role Okorafor will end up playing for the Patriots. He has experience both on the right and the left side if we look at his full body of work going back to his college career at Western Michigan, meaning that he might have value as a backup swing tackle.

Then again, the team also prepared for the eventuality of him earning more prominent playing time. Okorafor, after all, can earn up to $4.25 million in playing time incentives, possibly turning his one-year, $4 million deal into an $8.25 million cash intake.

A lot can and will happen before any of that may or may not become relevant. But the Patriots seem to like what Okorafor has to offer, and seemingly feel confident in his ability to bounce back from what was ultimately a disappointing final season with the Steelers.

In addition, Okorafor might be an insurance policy as well.

On the one hand, he raises the offensive tackle group’s floor by adding another player with starter experience to a group that only had Calvin Anderson, Conor McDermott, Vederian Lowe, Tyrone Wheatley Jr., and Andrew Stueber under contract for the 2024 season. On the other hand, his presence might help soften the blow were New England to lose both Trent Brown and Michael Onwenu in free agency this coming week.

As far as the Patriots’ resources are concerned, they still have plenty available. According to salary cap expert Miguel Benzan, New England is $84.611 million under the cap right now — a decrease of $3.085 million.

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