After adding nine players in last month’s NFL Draft, the New England Patriots were also quite busy on the free agency market. A total of 12 undrafted rookies ended up with the team in its first wave of signings, including a running back who received a record-breaking contract from the club.
Myles Montgomery’s three-year deal includes a total of $272,500 in combined guarantees. That number bests the previous Patriots UDFA record set by tight end C.J. Dippre’s $264,000 last offseason.
In fact, Montgomery
is not the only player to go above Dippre’s mark: cornerback Channing Canada, who was guaranteed $267,500, also went above that number.
The Patriots giving Montgomery $247,500 in salary guarantees plus a $25,000 signing bonus suggests that they had to fight off some competition to bring him on board. And it is not hard to see why: the 23-year-old had a solid college career at Cincinnati and UCF.
In between his two stints, he appeared in 41 games with 10 starts and carried the ball 274 times for 1,546 yards and 11 touchdowns. The 5-foot-10, 205-pound back, who was voted one of the Knights’ team captains last season, earned a 8.91 Relative Athletic Score during the pre-draft process, in large part due to his speed (4.44 40-yard dash) and explosiveness (10’4” broad jump).
As a Patriot, Montgomery will compete for a spot on a running back depth chart headlined by Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson. The team also has Lan Larison, Terrell Jennings and 2026 seventh-round draft pick Jam Miller under contract.
In total, the Patriots’ 12 initial undrafted rookies signings received $1.13 million in guarantees. The full breakdown, according to Ben Volin of the Boston Globe, looks like this:
- RB Myles Montgomery: $272,500 ($247,500 salary + $25,000 signing bonus)
- CB Channing Canada: $267,500 ($247,500 salary + $20,000 signing bonus)
- WR Kyle Dixon: $252,500 ($235,000 salary + $17,500 signing bonus)
- TE Tanner Arkin: $162,500 ($145,000 salary + $17,500 signing bonus)
- OL Jake Rizy: $85,000 ($75,000 salary + $10,000 signing bonus)
- WR Cameron Dorner: $40,000 ($30,000 salary + $10,000 signing bonus)
- WR Nick DeGennaro: $35,000 ($25,000 salary + $10,000 signing bonus)
- OL Jon’Darius Morgan: $10,000 (signing bonus)
- CB Kenneth Harris: $7,500 (signing bonus)
- WR Jimmy Kibble: $0
- LB Khalil Jacobs: $0
- CB Brandon Crossley: $0
Whereas UDFAs receive are guaranteed their signing bonuses upon putting pen to paper, the salary guarantees only come into play should a player get cut and not see the field. The maximum figure handed out — $247,500 — represents the full-season rate for a maximum practice squad contract.
