With 12 new Patriots hearing their names called in the NFL draft, the re-signing of two players may have gone unnoticed. Stephen Gostkowski and Pierre Woods will be lining up in Foxboro next season, but their return is only guaranteed for one season, ESPN.com reports.
Both Gostkowski and Woods were restricted free agents — a pool made larger by bizarre rules surrounding the uncapped season — and thus were always likely to remain Patriots. While both players were tendered initial one-year offers, only Gostkowski signed his. Woods received a separate one-year deal not based around the NFL’s tender system.
Gostkowski, in his fourth year in the league, had his lowest field goal percentage since his rookie year, hitting 26 of 31 tries. The Memphis grad did make all but one attempt from under 40 yards and hasn’t missed an extra point since Week 17 of his inaugural season. His tender will pay him $1.759 million.
A rotation player in the Patriots’ defense, Woods came into the league with Gostkowski. Woods, however, was not drafted out of Michigan and worked his way onto the Patriots, seeing action in eight games his rookie year. The linebacker played in all 16 games last season, totaling 36 tackles. Though he did not sign his free-agent tender, Woods will receive a base salary of $1.25 million and could earn up to $450,000 in incentives based on workouts and on-field performance.
