The New England Patriots relied heavily on their top three cornerbacks in 2025, and for good reason: Christian Gonzalez, Carlton Davis and Marcus Jones were one of the best trios in the NFL last season. As a consequence of their performance and relative durability, however, the depth options saw only limited opportunity.
Tops among those backups was late-summer waiver claim Charles Woods, who served as an emergency cornerback and part-time special teamer in his first year with the club.
Hard facts
Name: Charles
Woods
Position: Cornerback
Jersey number: 22
Opening day age: 26 (6/17/2000)
Measurements: 5’10 7/8”, 185 lbs, 30 3/8” arm length, 71 3/4” wingspan, 9” hand size, 4.59s 40-yard dash, 6.89s 3-cone drill, 4.28s short shuttle, 30 1/2” vertical jump, 9’7” broad jump, 2.43 Relative Athletic Score
Experience
NFL: Los Angeles Rams (2024-25), England Patriots (2025-) | College: Illinois State (2018-20), West Virginia (2021-22), SMU (2023)
Even though he scored 16 touchdowns as a multi-purpose weapon during his senior year at Kimball High School in Dallas, Woods was rated a no-star recruit and received limited college attention. He nonetheless found a home at Illinois State, where he ended up playing 30 games with 22 starts over three seasons. With Covid-19 forcing a cancellation of the team’s 2020 fall season, however, he opted to enter the transfer portal.
Woods subsequently joined West Virginia as a three-star transfer recruit, and showed promise early on: starting four out of his 11 games, he registered four takeaways. However, a leg injury suffered in the 2022 season opener halted his momentum and he left the Mountaineers for SMU after just four more games and an eventual medical redshirt.
In his final season in college, Woods started 14 games for the Mustangs and was named third-team All-ACC. It was not enough for his name to be called in the NFL Draft, but he eventually still found a home in the league when the Rams signed him as a rookie free agent. He saw action in 12 games in his first year as a pro, appearing mostly on special teams, before getting released ahead of his sophomore campaign and making his way to New England.
Including his first season as a Patriot, Woods has 31 regular season and playoff games to his name as well as 17 combined tackles between defense and kicking game.
Scouting report
Strengths: Woods is a well-built athlete who meets the size and length requirements to play cornerback and special teamer in the NFL. He plays with some awareness, uses the sideline well as a boundary corner, and has shown good reactionary skills as well as a nose for the football. He also is not being afraid to come down from the outside in run support or as a blitzer, and is physical enough to square up and take down ball carriers in the open field. He offers good versatility both on defense and in the kicking game, and despite not having standout testing speed moves fairly efficiently on the field. His effort and instincts help make up for some other shortcomings.
Weaknesses: Even though his size will not prevent him from playing competitive football, it does put Woods at a disadvantage against bigger receivers. Adding to this is the fact that he generally is not he most imposing athlete; he lacks the lower-body fluidity to effectively back-pedal out of his stance in man coverage and also doesn’t have the burst or long speed to hang tight on deep patterns or in pursuit. He furthermore has had some problems with consistency in the tackling department since entering the NFL, and despite being tenacious is not the most powerful or physical player at the attack point.
2025 review
Stats: 19 games (0 starts) | 153 defensive snaps (11.9%), 227 special teams snaps (41.4%) | 10 tackles, 1 missed tackle (9.1%) | 12 targets, 8 catches surrendered (66.7%), 98 yards, 1 PBU | 5 special teams tackles, 2 missed special teams tackles (33.3%) | 1 penalty (incl. 0 declined/offsetting)
Season recap: Woods found some success as a rookie with the Rams, but that did not help him keep his job coming out of his second training camp. In fact, L.A. decided to part ways with him ahead of roster cutdowns. While he appeared to be a prime candidate to be brought back via the practice squad, that opportunity never presented itself.
The Patriots, after all, took advantage of their fourth position on the waiver wire to pick him up. Woods joined their roster in late August and despite a quick turnaround already made his debut in Week 2 against the Dolphins. He mostly played on special teams that game, but climbed a spot up the depth chart the following Sunday — a spot he never let go off for the remainder of the season.
With Alex Austin struggling in place of an injured Christian Gonzalez, Woods saw increased opportunities between Weeks 3 and 4 and eventually replaced Austin as New England’s CB4. In that role, he ended up playing a combined 153 defensive snaps in his first year in Foxborough.
He did not start any games but nonetheless provided some value as an emergency option at the position. As such, he saw irregular playing time and peaked at 38.3% in the divisional playoff round against the Chargers.
His most consistent opportunities, meanwhile, came in the game’s third phase. Woods was a fixture on the kickoff coverage, punt coverage and punt return teams, and also saw action on the field goal/extra point blocking squad. He typically played between 40% and 60% of special teams snaps, registering five tackles on top of the 10 he managed to accumulate as a defender.
All in all, he had a solid first year in New England even though the quality of his cornerback reps depended entirely on the availability of the players higher up on the depth chart.
2026 preview
Position: Perimeter cornerback | Ability: Depth player/Role player | Contract: Signed through 2026 (2027 RFA)
What will be his role? Woods served as a backup outside cornerback as well as a special teamer for the Patriots in 2025, and his role is not expected to substantially change in 2026. He once again will provide depth behind Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis, and simultaneously play a regular multi-faceted role in the kicking game.
What is his growth potential? Even though he is only entering his third season in the NFL, the soon-to-be 26-year-old is already well-developed as a player. This means that while there are areas he can still work on to become a better player, any substantial jumps in performance should not be expected at this point in his career.
Does he have positional versatility? While Woods was primarily employed as an outside cornerback by the Patriots last season — a continuation of his college usage — he mostly lined up in the slot as a Ram. He also has showcased some versatility on special teams through his career, seeing extensive action on three of the Core 4 units: kickoff coverage, punt coverage and punt return. He also has experience on field goal and extra point block.
What is his salary cap situation? Entering the final year of his contract, Woods is just barely above the Top 51 cutoff line. Unless any additional relevant moves are made, however, he will fall out of the group once the Patriots sign their first- and second-round draft picks, Caleb Lomu and Gabe Jacas, to their rookie pacts. As for Woods’ deal, it consists entirely of a non-guaranteed $1.075 million base salary that also functions as his cap number.
How safe is his roster spot? On paper, Woods played a prominent role last season. However, the Patriots’ fourth cornerback is not safe heading toward 2026: he will need to prove himself against some talented competition in the form of Kindle Vildor, Kobee Minor, Marcellas Dial Jr, Karon Prunty, Brandon Crossley, Channing Canada, and Kenneth Harris. Realistically, no more than three out of the eight backup cornerbacks will make the team, meaning that Woods will have to beat out multiple players to retain his job.
Summary: Woods looked solid when called upon in 2025, and his special teams résumé will help him as well. However, the nature of the NFL is an inherently cruel one: if one of the younger cornerbacks on the roster even just equals his performance in training camp, the call will be made in that player’s favor. For Woods to avoid that fate, he needs to showcase some development on defense and simultaneously prove himself an irreplaceable part of the Patriots’ kicking game operation. Doing so will not be easy.
What do you think about Charles Woods heading into the 2026 season? Will he be more than a depth player? And would that be enough to make the team? Please head down to the comment section to share your thoughts.
