Despite Christian Gonzalez’s apparent unhappiness with his contract situation, the expectation is that the top of the New England Patriots’ cornerback depth chart will be set come the regular season: Gonzalez will be joined in the starting lineup by fellow outside corner Carlton Davis and slot defender Marcus Jones.
What the depth chart will look like behind the trio, meanwhile, is anybody’s guess. One of the players aiming to earn a spot on the roster is veteran free agency signing Kindle Vildor,
who was actively involved in the defensive proceedings during offseason workouts.
Hard facts
Name: Kindle Vildor
Position: Cornerback
Jersey number: 28
Opening day age: 28 (12/11/1997)
Measurements: 5’9 7/8”, 190 lbs, 9 5/8” hand size, 32 1/4” arm length, 4.44s 40-yard dash, 7.14s 3-cone drill, 4.28s short shuttle, 39 1/2” vertical jump, 11’1” broad jump, 22 bench press reps, 7.55 Relative Athletic Score
Experience
NFL: Chicago Bears (2020-22), Tennessee Titans (2023), Philadelphia Eagles (2023), Detroit Lions (2023-24), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2025), New England Patriots (2026-) | College: Georgia Southern (2016-19)
Despite only being ranked a two-star recruit coming out of North Park High School in College Park, GA — partially because he only started playing the sport as a sophomore — Vildor received multiple scholarship offers. One of them came from Georgia Southern, where he ended up spending his entire four-year college career while appearing in 48 games and being named first-team All-Sun Belt on two separate occasions (2018, 2019).
His college success paved the way for Vildor to be selected 163rd overall in the fifth round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He started his career with the Bears, for whom he played 45 games over three seasons. However, he did not make it to the end of his rookie pact and was released ahead of 2023 roster cuts.
Vildor was picked up by the Mike Vrabel-led Titans as a waiver claim but was let go again after only two games. Following a brief stint on the Eagles practice squad, he joined the Lions later during the same season. He actually remained in Detroit through 2024 as well, playing a total of 26 games with the organization before leaving it for a one-year deal with the Buccaneers in 2025.
Including his 2025 season, Vildor has appeared in 80 regular season and five playoff games, and caught two interceptions. He also has a sack and a fumble recovery on his résumé.
Scouting report
Strengths: Vildor is an experienced press-man cornerback who has a powerful punch and stout lower body, allowing him to get into wide receivers’ chests at the release. He plays with active hands and has the length to reach around at the catch point and disrupt throws headed his way, while also bringing some good linear speed to the battle. While best suited to perform in man-to-man shells, he also has found success playing zone coverage and coming downhill versus the run. In addition, he offers versatility in the kicking game and has the acceleration and vision to get downfield as a gunner.
Weaknesses: Even though his length is a positive, as a whole Vildor is lacking size and bulk. He can get swallowed up on run plays and get boxed out by bigger receives in contested catch situations. His quickness also is nothing special, with his lack of click-and-close burst a hindrance particularly in zone or off-ball coverage. As a result, Vildor has had some issues with pass interference and holding penalties especially earlier in his career. His ball production has also been mediocre, and he has picked off only two passes and forced just a single fumble in his first six years in the NFL.
2025 review
Stats: 12 games (1 start) | 164 defensive snaps (15.7%), 76 special teams snaps (17.1%) | 16 tackles, 1 missed tackle (5.9%) | 18 targets, 13 catches surrendered (72.2%), 159 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 3 PBUs | 0 penalties
Season recap: Vildor had an active 2024 campaign with the Lions, but nonetheless left the team the subsequent offseason. Instead of returning to Detroit, he signed a one-year, $1.3 million contract with the Buccaneers that included $1.2 million in guarantees. Despite the nature of that pact, he remained a backup for most of the 2025 season.
Vildor did not see any defensive playing time over the first four weeks of the season, and also saw only irregular action from that point on. He ended up playing in 12 games, with his opportunities at cornerback tied to the availability of Tampa’s other options at the position. As a consequence, he actually lined up at his listed position in just seven contests, with a majority of his 164 total snaps — 158 — coming in four games.
One of those saw him produce his most memorably play of the season.
In the first quarter of the Buccaneers’ 30-19 Week 6 win over the 49ers, Vildor took advantage of ex-Patriots Mac Jones and Kendrick Bourne not being on the same page. He undercut Jones’ pass attempt and returned the interception 13 yards to set up the game’s first touchdown.
Other than that particular play, however, Vildor’s season was mostly quiet. He did play some semi-regular special teams snaps on top of his limited defensive duties, but overall can be described as a “break glass in case of emergency” player for the team. As a consequence, Tampa did not make him a priority to be re-signed following the conclusion of the 2025 season.
2026 preview
Position: Perimeter cornerback| Ability: Depth player/Role player | Contract: Signed through 2026 (2027 UFA)
What will be his role? Even though he has started 31 combine regular season and playoff games in his career, Vildor has mostly served in a backup role since entering the NFL. Joining the Patriots this offseason, anything but a continuation of that usage would be a surprise. The 28-year-old therefore projects as a depth perimeter cornerback behind starters Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis.
What is his growth potential? With six seasons of NFL experience under his belt, Vildor is very much established as a player both in terms of his strengths and weaknesses. While he has shown some strides throughout his career particularly as a zone defender, him suddenly developing into more than a replacement-level player would be a massive surprise.
Does he have positional versatility? Throughout his career, Vildor has lined up as on outside linebacker on 88.3% of his defensive snaps. His versatility in that regard is limited, even though he does provide some schematic flexibility. The kicking game is a slightly different story: he brought the experience of five special teams units to New England, even though a majority of his reps has come on just three of them (field goal/extra point block, punt return, kickoff coverage).
What is his salary cap situation? Vildor signed a one-year, $1.4 million contract with the Patriots in March that qualifies for the veteran salary benefit. This means that the team is able to reduce his $1.215 million minimum base salary to $1.075 million for cap calculation purposes. Consequently, his cap number stands at only $1.263 million and also includes a fully-guaranteed $137,500 signing bonus and $50,000 workout bonus. He also has a $300,000 salary guarantee in his pact.
How safe is his roster spot? Despite $437,500 of his contract being guaranteed, the Patriots will not hesitate moving on from Vildor if his performance in training camp does not look the part. Based on his offseason usage and performance, however, he will have a realistic shot of emerging victoriously from a competition that features seven other cornerbacks all vying for what is unlikely to be more than three roster spots.
Summary: In lieu of Christian Gonzalez, Vildor saw extensive action with the starters during the Patriots’ organized team activities and mandatory minicamp. He did fare well, showing some competitiveness in coverage and even when giving up receptions making life hard for the pass catchers. As a result, he is carrying some momentum into training camp and appears to be in a good position to earn a backup spot at cornerback when all is said and done.
What do you think about Kindle Vildor heading into the 2026 season? Will he keep his offseason momentum? Or will he start to fade once training camp kicks off? Please head down to the comment section to share your thoughts.
