All things considered, the Patriots haven’t made a ‘big splash’ per say, but they’re having a very solid offseason so far.

With free agency officially starting on Wednesday, the Patriots continue to tinker and add to the roster. It was a busy day on defense, with Eliot Wolf, Ryan Cowden and Mike Vrabel bringing in linebacker KJ Britt and safety Kevin Byard.

Britt is entering his sixth year in the league, having played his first four seasons in Tampa Bay before playing for Miami last season. Britt has 76 games played in his career (16 starts) with a half a sack, 161 total tackles (80 solo). He’s going to be a depth linebacker for New England after the releases of Jahlani Tavai and Anfernee Jennings, but he should also serve as a core special teams player as well.

Britt’s deal is for one year, the financial terms were not immediately available.

On the back end, Kevin Byard signed a one-year, $9 million deal that was first reported by Tom Pelissero.

Byard will turn 33 in August and is entering the 11th season of his NFL career. The longtime Titan was drafted by Tennessee in 2016 and played there until 2023. He’s also played for Philadelphia (2023) and Chicago each of the last two seasons. Byard was obviously in Tennessee when Vrabel was the head coach too.

Byard has played in 164 games with 155 starts. He’s got 36 interceptions (one returned for a TD in 2021), four forced fumbles and six fumble recoveries. He’s also got 81 PBUs and 972 total tackles (655 solo) with six sacks and 21 QB hits.

Byard is a replacement for Jaylinn Hawkins who is heading to Baltimore on a two-year, $10 million dollar deal. While Byard is significantly older than Hawkins, the one-year deal doesn’t tie the Patriots to him long term, but it does solidify the position with a solid veteran presence on that back end.

Byard was an All-Pro last year and is a three-time Pro Bowler, bringing immediate credibility to a defense that’s not rebuilding, but re-tooling.