New England Patriots’ safety Kevin Byard III has been ranked as part of the NFL’s Top 100 list ahead of the 2026 season.
Throughout the month of July, the NFL has been incrementally revealing its annual “NFL’s Top 100” rankings — a list of the league’s best players as voted on by their peers. Today, the New England Patriots cracked the list for the second time with safety Kevin Byard III coming in at No. 61 overall.
Previously, wide receiver A.J. Brown was listed at No. 80 overall — as both of New England’s selections thus far have been offseason additions. Byard signed a one-year, $9 million contract in March, reuniting with head coach Mike Vrabel, whom he spent 2018-2023 with in Nashville as a long-tenured Tennessee Titan. It is the third time in Byard’s career that he’s been named to the NFL’s Top 100, with other selections occurring in 2018 (No. 80) and 2022 (No. 34).
An aggressive ballhawk, Byard has built his career on versatility: creating turnovers in the passing game and serving as a dependable tackler against the run. In 2025 as a member of the Chicago Bears, he led the NFL with seven interceptions and earned first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors for the third time. It was the second time he topped the league in picks (eight interceptions in 2017).
Byard leads all active NFL players with 36 career interceptions and holds a passer rating against of just 77.9 when targeted over his 10-years. He covers great range at the third level, but even at the age of 33, his work isn’t limited strictly to deep safety. Reliable as a run stopper near the line of scrimmage, Byard has logged at least 84 tackles in each of the last nine seasons. He led the Bears with 130 tackles (career high) in 2024 and finished second on the team with 93 in 2025. He’s eclipsed 100 tackles four times and averages 97.2 per season.
He’s the only active player with at least 700 tackles and 30 interceptions since 2016—he’s tallied 972 tackles and 36 picks in that span.
A team captain in both seasons with the Bears and four times with the Titans, he’s a vocal, high-energy leader with constant passion—a staple throughout his career. With extensive experience in Vrabel’s scheme, Byard will sharpen on-field communication in the secondary—and pave a wide-open developmental path for second-year safety Craig Woodson, who led the Patriots in snaps (1,202, including postseason).
New England now has two ultra-reliable anchors for the third level, with Byard logging no missed games since 2016 and a streak of 164 games played (155 starts). He played nearly 100% of snaps for the Bears last season (1,070 defensive snaps) and has hit at least 1,000 snaps played every year since 2017.
Byard embodies the aggressive mindset and “effort and finish” Vrabel demands, and his knack for generating turnovers will help the “ball disruption” tenet of that system — which was lacking for the Patriots in 2025 after taking the ball away just 19 times during the regular season.
Whether disrupting near the line, forcing takeaways deeper, or leading vocally, Byard’s impact will be felt across the board. His scheme familiarity, leadership, and nose for the ball make him invaluable in the locker room and on Sundays.
The Patriots’ talented young secondary was already ascending, and Byard’s signing accelerates it—potentially transforming a great unit into a dominant one ahead of the 2026 season. His inclusion on the NFL’s Top 100 is a testament to the high-level of performance New England can still expect to receive from him this fall.
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