The Chicago Bears are losing one of their playmakers on defense after safety Kevin Byard III has reportedly agreed to terms with the New England Patriots.
The NFL’s leader in interceptions from a season ago has a new home, with reports stating that veteran safety Kevin Byard III is signing with the New England Patriots on a one-year, $9 million deal.
Byard, 32, finished the 2025 season with seven interceptions, eight passes defensed and earned himself first-team All-Pro honors for his 19 games played (including the playoffs) in Chicago.
He produced on the field, but was also one of the established leaders for Ben Johnson’s team. Days after the Bears’ blowout loss to the Detroit Lions in Week 2, it was Byard, Jaquan Brisker and Grady Jarrett who held a players-only meeting the following Wednesday to air out why the defense couldn’t allow that type of performance and the second-half collapse against the Vikings in Week 1 to happen again.
The defense responded with a dominant 31-14 win over the Dallas Cowboys and went on to lead the league in turnovers, capped by an 11-win season that culminated in an NFC North title and a playoff win against the Green Bay Packers.
Byard’s play and leadership had a huge influence on the Bears’ success last season. Both Byard and general manager Ryan Poles had expressed publicly about wanting to get a deal done in Chicago following the loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the Divisional Round.
When reports surfaced that the Bears had signed Seahawks safety Coby Bryant on a three-year, $40 million deal, the writing was on the wall for Byard’s future in Chicago.
Given that Byard signed just a one-year, $9 million contract with Patriots, it's fair to wonder why a deal couldn't get done with the Bears, considering how the player and team talked about one another.
According to Josina Anderson, Byard told her over the phone that "it was either Bears or the Patriots, and you know I have a relationship with Coach Vrabes (Mike Vrabel); and New England it is ..."
Vrabel was Byard's head coach in Tennessee for six seasons, and during that time, Byard was a two-time Pro Bowler and earned first-team All-Pro honors twice.
Byard joins a Patriots team that is coming off a Super Bowl loss loss to the Seattle Seahawks. When Byard spoke to reporters during the end-of-season locker room clean out, he expressed what his priorities are for him at this stage of his career.
"I want to win," Byard said. "I want to win. You know, this has always been, since I came into this league, obviously, everybody has different reasons why they do this thing. For me, it's always been about legacy. I want to be able to win. I want to be able to play at a higher level and all that good stuff, but what motivates me and what drives that is to want to win and try to be the best person, to be the best player, leader, teammate that I could possibly be for this organization or any organization.
So that's who I am. I want to be able to win. I want to be on a team that wants to win. And like I said, I truly don't know what this future is going to hold for me. I don't know what this offseason is going to look like. I'm going to take some time off, go back to being a full time dad, and we'll see what happens."