Patriots Rumors: Matthew Slater Agrees to 2-Year Contract Extension

The New England Patriots are reportedly keeping their special teams captain.

According to Field Yates of ESPN, the Patriots agreed to a two-year contract extension with Matthew Slater. Yates, who called Slater "one of the team's most respected players" and "arguably" the best special teams player in the NFL, noted the contract is similar to the last one he signed with the Patriots.

That contract was for two seasons and $2.6 million a year.

Slater has been with the Patriots his entire career since they selected him in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL draft. While he has one catch for 46 yards in his career as a pass-catcher, his value extends well beyond his receiving stats.

The special teams gunner is an eight-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro who has helped lead the Patriots to three Super Bowl titles. He has 154 tackles in his career, 10 of which came during the 2019 campaign.

He also used to return kicks but has not done so since 2016.

It is no surprise Slater elected to remain in New England given the team wanted to keep him.

"It's hard for me to visualize myself playing anywhere else," he told Michael DiRocco of ESPN in January. "But that's not always my decision so I think that's out of my control. I've expressed publicly and privately to remain a Patriot for the entirety of my career and certainly I still feel that way so we'll see how it goes."

Slater is 34 years old but remained productive as a Pro Bowler last season and will look to help New England win another Super Bowl before he eventually retires.