FOXBORO, Mass. — When the news got out that Joshua Uche turned down significantly more money in free agency to return to the rebuilding New England Patriots, there was no hiding from the reaction. He heard and saw it all.
He knew few would understand his rationale for turning down a rumored $15 million contract (with $11 million guaranteed) over two years from an unnamed team just to return to a young Patriots team on a one-year deal with only $3 million guaranteed.
“It was interesting. I had a lot of people calling me crazy,” Uche said. “A lot of people focusing on the financial parts of the decision. But I feel like the team that gave me an opportunity, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be. I can’t envision myself playing for another team. However that shakes out, I know at the end of the day, the ball was in my court, and this is the dream that I wanted to fulfill, to be a Patriot.”
Making dad proud @_Uche35 🥲 pic.twitter.com/1pfTAtQsPF
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) April 30, 2024
A lot has changed for Uche since the Patriots took him in the second round of the 2020 draft. He went from a breakout star with 11.5 sacks in 2022 to a slumping pass rusher who totaled only three sacks in 2023. He has gone from being handpicked by Bill Belichick to now working with a new outside linebackers coach for the first time in his pro career. And he’s gone from a barely utilized rookie to someone who had multiple teams offering him millions of dollars in free agency, betting that he’s closer to the player of 2022 than last season.
Amid all that, he wanted to remain in New England.
“There were some options on the table, but in my heart, I felt I was destined to be a Patriot,” Uche said. “Despite what was offered, I felt like this was my calling. I felt like it was what I was destined to do, and I felt like this is what I want to be. I don’t want to be anywhere else.”
Uche’s decline in play last season coincided with the season-ending injury suffered by fellow edge rusher Matthew Judon. Uche typically plays on the opposite side of the line from Judon on passing downs. And with Judon often facing double teams, Uche has thrived with less of the offensive line’s focus on him.
In 2022, when both were healthy, Uche had a pressure rate of 21.1 percent, the fourth-best number in the league. Through the first three weeks of last season (the only three full games Judon played in), Uche’s pressure rate was second highest in the league, behind only Green Bay’s Rashan Gary, according to TruMedia. But the dropoff was steep. In the subsequent 14 games, Uche’s pressure rate ranked 39th.
Now the Patriots are returning Uche and Judon, hoping that a healthy season can again see them reemerge as one of the better pass-rushing duos in the league.
Plus, Uche said, he wanted to return to play for new head coach Jerod Mayo and defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington, who had been the team’s defensive line coach.
“They know me best,” Uche said. “They know me better than any other coach in the league could possibly know me. There’s no place I’d rather be than playing for those guys.”
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For Uche, there’s also a sense of trying to prove people wrong. He could have taken the security of that two-year contract with $11 million and been well paid.
But if Uche, who is still just 25, has a great season, he’ll become a free agent again with a chance to cash in amid a boom for pass rushers. So this is kind of a bet on himself, too.
“You could say that,” Uche said. “This is home for me, so I know the ins and outs. I know the coaching staff. I know the players, the guys here. I know this is home for me. I don’t know if it’s that much of a bet because this is my home, but in terms of finances and years and stuff like that, yeah, you could consider that a bet, if you will. But if I’m going to bet on anyone, I’m going to bet on myself and my teammates.”
After finalizing his decision to stay in New England, Uche has been spending time with his father, who’s an engineer. They’re working on some home renovations together. It’s been fun, Uche said, to see his parents in a different light, as an adult chatting with them about adult matters.
His dad did have one request after the new contract, though. He asked Uche to go by his full name — Joshua instead of Josh — so Uche obliged.
“I’m trying to make my dad proud,” he said.
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(Photo: David Butler II / USA Today)
