Patriots free agency profile: Is Yasir Durant being overlooked at offensive tackle?

FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - AUGUST 11: Yasir Durant #70 of the New England Patriots looks on during the preseason game between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on August 11, 2022 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Even though the New England Patriots made some big investments in their offensive tackle group last offseason, it remains in the spotlight heading into 2026. Starters Will Campbell and Morgan Moses are facing questions because of their playoff performance and age, respectively, while backups Vederian Lowe and Thayer Munford Jr. are both free agents this spring.

The same is true for a third OT option: Yasir Durant. While mostly overlooked as a depth piece, the restricted free agent is able to provide some experience both within the Patriots organization and in pro football as a whole.

Could he therefore factor into the mix as well moving forward? Is he even a realistic candidate to be retained? Let's find out.

Hard facts

Name:Yasir Durant

Position:Offensive tackle

Jersey number:72

Opening day age:28 (5/21/1998)

Measurements:6'6", 330 lbs, 34 3/4" arm length, 9 1/2" hand size, 5.52s 40-yard dash, 25" vertical jump, 21 bench press reps, 2.23 Relative Athletic Score

Experience

NFL:Kansas City Chiefs (2020), New England Patriots (2021), New Orleans Saints (2022), Denver Broncos (2023), New England Patriots (2025-) |College:Arizona Western (2016), Missouri (2017-19)

A three-year recruit out of Imhotep High School in his hometown of Philadelphia, Durant spent his freshman year at Arizona Western Community College, where he played right guard and some left tackle. He subsequently transferred to Missouri in 2017 and over the next three seasons established himself as the Tigers' starting left tackle. He ended up appearing in 37 games with 34 starts before going unselected in the 2020 remote draft.

Durant joined the Chiefs as a rookie free agent, where he saw some limited action as a reserve lineman and special teamer as a rookie. He was traded to New England the following September, where he continued to play a similar role but was ultimately not retained in 2022.

From there, he continued to add to his journeyman status. Durant spent 2022 in New Orleans, followed by a brief training camp stint in Denver. He remained unsigned for the remainder of the 2023 season and took his talents to the UFL, where he spent two seasons with the DC Defenders before a return to the NFL and New England in the summer of 2025.

Over the course of his professional career, Durant has started two out of his combined 21 NFL games as well as all 22 of his additional contests in the UFL.

2025 review

Stats:N/A

Season recap: Eight days after putting a championship end to his all-star season, Durant left the UFL to return to the NFL via a one-year contract with the Patriots. He joined the team after its offseason program had concluded in hopes of being ready to compete for a spot on the offensive tackle depth chart in training camp.

That never happened. While he did participate in the first five practices without really standing out in any way, he suffered an undisclosed injury early in the sixth session and was not seen from again. One day after his departure, he was waived with an injury designation and after going unclaimed reverted to injured reserve the next day. Ineligible to return off IR, he spent his entire 2025 campaign on the list.

Free agency preview

Free agency status:Restricted free agent (RFA)

What is his contract history?While Durant's career has been lacking stability so far, he has still been able to earn a bit of money since turning pro - including last year with the Patriots: as part of an injury stipulation in his contract, he received a split salary of $540,000. In total, he has now earned $2.2 million since 2020, according to calculations by Over the Cap.

Which teams might be in the running?Given his career up until this point, Durant does not project as a starter-caliber offensive tackle in 2026. That means that his market is not as easily defined as looking at teams in need of help at that particular position. And with every team looking for backups to fill out their roster at this stage in the process, this means every organization in the league could theoretically be interested in Durant. In practice, however, New England would probably be frontrunners even if he were not tendered as an RFA.

Why should he be expected back?Set to turn 28 in May, Durant is an experienced player who may not have had the most starting opportunities in the NFL but who could still provide value as a backup swing and scout team tackle. Whether that is enough to be retained remains to be seen, but with both Vederian Lowe and Thayer Munford Jr. off to the open market New England might see him as a cheaper depth piece easier to keep around.

Why should he be expected to leave?Durant's staying power in pro football deserves to be applauded, but his potential for improvement and by extension ability to compete for snaps seems limited at this point in his career. Sure, re-signing him would not be expensive, but he also would take a roster spot from a player with potentially higher upside and a clearer path to earning a roster spot over him.

What is his projected free agency outcome?As asked above, is Durant being overlooked as a depth piece at offensive tackle? To a degree, yes; that is the nature of spending an entire year on injured reserve. That being said, he also is facing a somewhat murky outlook. For starters, the Patriots are not expected to use any of the restricted free agency tenders on him. That said, we do project that they could eventually re-sign him on a one-year minimum contract consisting of a non-guaranteed $1.08 million base salary. That would not guarantee him a spot on the team, but it would give New England another option in case one of Lowe or Munford Jr. decides to leave - and if only until the dust has settled from the draft and rookie free agency.

Now it's your turn to play GM: How would you approach Yasir Durant's free agency? Is he worth re-signing? Or would you just let him hit the open market and see what happens next? Please head down to the comment section to share your plan.