Patriots look to Christian Barmore for more massive contributions to the defensive line
FOXBOROUGH — At this time last year, Christian Barmore’s status was questionable at best. Coming off a lost 2024 campaign due in large part to a blood clot issue, and working with his third different coaching staff in three seasons, Barmore’s NFL future appeared murky.
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But by the end of the season, it was evident things had become much clearer. In 17 regular-season games, the 6-foot-5-inch, 315-pound defensive tackle had a pair of sacks and 29 combined tackles.
Cleared of his health issues, Barmore played a sizable role last season in the success of the Patriots’ defensive front, ultimately playing a career-high 927 snaps (including 177 in the postseason).
“Throughout the course of the year, he had massive improvement and was a huge part of us playing good defense,” defensive line coach Clint McMillan said Thursday. “I tell him all the time, ‘We would not have ended up where we were if you didn’t play well.’ I’m so excited for him to get a full off-season, and excited to get the second year.”
Now, the 26-year-old Barmore is again entrenched as one of the key pieces of New England’s defensive line. He’s been present throughout the springtime OTA sessions, and was sweating it out alongside his fellow defensive linemen throughout the three-day mandatory minicamp this week in Foxborough.
The pads have yet to go on, but if Barmore’s work this spring is any indication, his ability to get pressure on the passer and hold up against the run will make him a vital to the success of the 2026 team.
“He loves the game of football, and he spends time on it,” McMillan said. “His preparation is excellent. I think he’s always prepared going into games. He spends a lot of time on it, even when he’s off-the-clock. So by the time he comes in, he’ll be able to talk through it and say the things that he likes, things that he doesn’t like.
“I’ve enjoyed every moment that I’ve been able to coach every guy in [the defensive line room]. He’s got a great personality, and he helps us out a lot.”
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Coach Mike Vrabel, who forged a tight relationship with Barmore last year, says the key for him moving forward is to find a way to close out those plays when he pressures the quarterback.
“I just want to see him finish,” Vrabel said. “Some of those plays that he had in the backfield around the quarterback, instead of being disruptive, being able to finish those, because he did that a lot. I try to talk to him about not being frustrated; those plays impact the game. It may not show up on a statistical category.
“But I think his attitude has been great.”
Off the field, issues have lingered. There was a 2024 run-in with Providence police, as well as a domestic violence case that was ultimately dropped in March by Massachusetts prosecutors. In addition, Vrabel benched Barmore for the first quarter of a 32-13 win over the Browns last Oct. 26 for an unspecified infraction.
Now, it sounds like all parties are interested in moving forward with a clean slate.
“I enjoy working with him, I do,” Vrabel said.
“They’re really great coaches [here] that I love,” Barmore said. “Coach Vrabel, I love Coach Clint [and assistant head coach] Terrell Williams. They’re guys that helped me out. Helped the whole D-line out, especially when it comes to things we need. They’re free to say things that we need to work on. That’s what I love about them. They’re real with us.”
Barmore is looking forward to taking another step forward in 2026. He’s signed through the 2028 season, making him one of only two players remaining from the 2021 draft class. He’s seen the highs of a Super Bowl, as well as the lows of back-to-back 4-13 seasons. Now, he’s ready to be a part of a defense that’s looking to take the last step toward a championship.
“The same motivation,” he said when asked what the Patriots need to do to replicate their success of 2025. “We all come here to fight. We all come here to go to war together. And I feel like every day we’ve just got to keep working hard to be the best we can be, so we can do the things we did last year even better.
“It’s a special group of guys.”
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