The New England Patriots opened their checkbook multiple times on Monday, adding starter-level players at multiple positions of need. One of those was cornerback, where they were lacking a proven starting option opposite All-Pro Christian Gonzalez.
In order to fill that vacancy, the Patriots made Carlton Davis one of the highest-paid cornerbacks in football. A look at his contract details as first reported by Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 and further dissected by salary cap expert Miguel Benzan shows that his new three-year pact is averaging $18 million per season.
While that number is slightly below the originally-reported AAV of $20 million, it still means that Davis currently ranks top-15 among the league’s CBs in average annual compensation.
CB Carlton Davis: Contract details
2025:Base salary: $5,000,000Signing bonus: $5,500,000Roster bonus: $1,275,000Workout bonus: $225,000Incentives: $2,000,000
Salary cap hit: $11,700,000
2026:Base salary: $13,000,000Signing bonus: $5,500,000Roster bonus: $1,275,000Workout bonus: $225,000Incentives: $2,000,000
Salary cap hit: $20,000,000
2027:Base salary: $15,000,000Signing bonus: $5,500,000Roster bonus: $1,275,000Workout bonus: $225,000Incentives: $2,000,000
Salary cap hit: $22,000,000
Davis’ contract is pretty straight-forward in terms of its underlying structure. From a Patriots perspective, a few things are worth noting:
1.) Cap hits. Davis carries a relatively moderate cap hit in all three of his years, especially considering that the cap is expected to continue rising in the next years. As for 2025, he accounts for 4.3 percent of the available cap room: his $11.7 million cap hit this season is currently ranked fifth on the team.
2.) Guarantees. Besides Davis’ $16.5 million signing bonus proration, which is split out over the length of the deal, two other parts of it are guaranteed: the $5 million salary this year, plus the $13 million salary in 2026. As a result of those, he is an effective lock to be on the team for the next two years.
3.) Final year. Davis’ contractual outlook changes slightly in 2027, with no salary guarantee and the $5.5 million signing bonus proration the only thing that would remain on the books in case of a release.
Before getting too far ahead of ourselves, however, let’s return to March 2025 and an attempt at contextualizing the pact. What we can see is that it is in the ballpark of some of the other free agency cornerback deals signed this week, namely those of Paulson Adebo in New York ($18M AAV), Byron Murphy in Minnesota (unconfirmed $22M AAV) and D.J. Reed in Detroit (unconfirmed $16M AAV).
