Today in Patriots History
Sione Takitaki
Happy 31st birthday to Sione Takitaki
Born June 8, 1995 in Fontana, California
Patriots linebacker, 2024; uniform #16
Signed as an unrestricted veteran free agent on March 14, 2024
Two years, $6.645m base, $3.125m guaranteed, $3.35m cap, $10.25m max
Pats résumé: one season, 11 games (4 starts); 21 tackles; 194 defensive snaps, 112 special team snaps
The Patriots replaced linebacker Mack Wilson by coming to terms with Sione Takitaki on a one-year contract. Phil Perry assesses the move.
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One ex Brown LB out. One new ex Brown LB in.
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Patriots Add a LB, Agree to Terms with Browns Takitaki Ian Logue The Patriots added a piece on defense on Tuesday night, with Mike Reiss reporting the club has agreed to terms with free agent linebacker Sione Takitaki. The post Patriots Add a LB, Agree to Terms with Browns Takitaki appeared...
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The Patriots added a piece on defense on Tuesday night, with Mike Reiss reporting the club has agreed to terms with free agent linebacker Sione Takitaki.
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Takitaki is a player who Eliot Wolf has familiarity with, having taken him in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft in Cleveland. He’s been a productive player during his career, totaling 269 tackles including 4 sacks and 2 interceptions along with 4 passes defended during his five seasons in Cleveland.
He’s currently coming off of his most productive year as a pro, with Takitaki finishing 2023 with 45 solo tackles, 2 sacks, an interception, and three passes defended.
He’s incredibly athletic, with Takitaki finishing the 2019 Scouting Combine scoring the fastest time for all linebackers in his 60 yard shuttle among players at his position tested that year. That speed and athleticism has served him well, and his addition provides the Patriots, who has pledged to be younger and more explosive on defense, exactly the type of player they’re looking for on that side of the football.
He also helps fill a void left by Mack Wilson Sr., who signed with the Arizona Cardinals on Monday.
Sione Takitaki's time in Cleveland has come to an end. The former 3rd-round pick hailing from BYU came to an agreement with the New England Patriots for a two-year $6.5M deal with incentives up to $10M.in Takitaki's four seasons as a Cleveland Brown, he became a true fan favorite. He took on the...
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Sione Takitaki's time in Cleveland has come to an end. The former 3rd-round pick hailing from BYU came to an agreement with the New England Patriots for a two-year $6.5M deal with incentives up to $10M.
in Takitaki's four seasons as a Cleveland Brown, he became a true fan favorite. He took on the personality of the city and bought into what it meant to turn the Cleveland Browns franchise around.
The Patriots announced today that they have signed four unrestricted free agents. Signed today were RB Antonio Gibson, TE Austin Hooper, OL Mike Onwenu and LB Sione Takitaki.
www.patriots.com
The Patriots announced today that they have signed four unrestricted free agents. Signed today were RB Antonio Gibson, TE Austin Hooper, OL Mike Onwenu and LB Sione Takitaki.
Takitaki, 28, is a veteran of five NFL seasons with the Cleveland Browns after joining the team as a third-round draft pick (80th overall) in the 2019 NFL Draft out of Brigham Young. The 6-foot-1, 238-pounder, has played in 72 regular season games with 26 starts and has registered 240 total tackles, 4 sacks, 2 interceptions with one returned for a touchdown, 4 passes defensed, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery and 29 special teams tackles. In addition, he has played and started in three postseason games with 11 total tackles and 1 interception. Last season with Cleveland, Takitaki played in 15 games with seven starts and finished with 64 total tackles, 2 sacks, 3 passes defensed and 2 special teams tackles.
The New England Patriots have fortified their defense by signing former Cleveland Browns' linebacker Sione Takitaki to a two-year contract.
www.si.com
New England, on Monday evening, reportedly agreed to a two-year deal with former Cleveland Browns linebacker Sione Takitaki — helping to mitigate the loss of both weakside linebacker Mack Wilson, Sr (via free agency to the Arizona Cardinals) and the impending release of special teamer/linebacker Chris Board.
Fortunately for the Pats, Wolf is quite familiar with Takitaki’s abilities and potential. Having served as the Browns’ assistant general manager in 2019 — when Cleveland selected selected him No. 80 overall in the third-round of the NFL Draft — the man currently in charge of Pats’ personnel has seen the BYU product’s toughness, tenacity and on-field intelligence first hand.
Having aligned at all three linebacker positions, his versatility became key factor in the progressional increase with which he has been utilized in the Browns’ defense — taking 65 percent of Cleveland’s defensive snaps in 2022 and 61 percent in 2023.
With New England, Takitaki should be expected to play both on and off the line of scrimmage — primarily in a third-down role, yet capable of spelling top options Ja’Whaun Bentley and Jahlani Tavai on early downs if necessary. His ability to quickly diagnose opposing offensive plays could make him an option in a hybrid role as well. Throughout both his collegiate and pro tenure, he has been a solid run defender and special teams contributor — traits which will undoubtedly be utilized by Pats coach Jerod Mayo in the upcoming season.
Per the Boston Herald, the two-year pact will hit the books for $6.65 million, with a maximum worth up to $10.25 million. His salaries will be set at $1.13 million for 2024 and $2.2 million in 2025. The deal includes a $2 million signing bonus/total guarantee, $510,00 in per-game roster bonuses each year, a $150,000 per-year workout bonus and up to $1.8 million in playing time incentives each year.
The Patriots are set to hold their first training camp practice of the 2024 preseason this morning, with the session currently scheduled for 11:00am on the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium.
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Joining those two to begin training camp on PUP are also offensive lineman Jake Andrews and linebacker Sione Takitaki. According to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, Takitaki underwent an offseason knee procedure, which is why he’s starting out training camp with that designation.
The Patriots released Takitaki on February 19, 2025. He was signed to Minnesota's practice squad in September, where he spent most of the year. Takitaki got on the field for the final three games of the season, each time as a game day practice squad elevation.
Saves 2.8 mil
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The Patriots released Sione Takitaki on Wednesday, a move that seems to reflect first-year coach Mike Vrabel's influence in shaping the roster.
www.espn.com
The Patriots made a transaction on Wednesday, announcing the release of linebacker Sione Takitaki. Takitaki was signed to a two-year deal last offseason, with the former Browns player, who was selected by Eliot Wolf in the third round back in Cleveland in 2019, getting released on Tuesday well...
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His departure shows that the evaluation of the current personnel is clearly underway, with new head coach Mike Vrabel and defensive coordinator Terrell Williams seemingly having a vision as to how they want to shape the linebacker room in 2025.
Phil Perry of NBC Sports Boston talked about the move in most recent Next Pats Podcast, adding that the fact Takitaki was someone who Wolf certainly had an affinity for speaks volumes on his release, and indicates that this is likely a decision made by Vrabel as he continues looking at how they plan to play defense moving forward.
“It is interesting in that, to me, the first thing that I think of is that Sione Takitaki was somebody that Eliot Wolf went out of his way to bring in year one of this new Patriots regime in 2024 with Jerod Mayo,” said Perry. “Eliot Wolf, they needed a little bit of linebacker depth. They wanted somebody that had experience, somebody that Eliot Wolf clearly has respected going back to his time in college, when Eliot Wolf was a huge proponent of drafting Sione Takitaki to the Cleveland Browns, that was Eliot Wolf.”
“And so, if they are now releasing somebody that Eliot Wolf has this connection to, what does that tell us? Well, to me, it tells me what we already knew and what we had already inferred by this point in the offseason, which is Mike Vrabel’s running the show. If everything was up to Eliot Wolf when it came to personnel, then you might see Eliot Wolf give Sione Takitaki another shot here.”
The Patriots didn't need to create cap space, but they did so anyway by making a rare roster move in the middle of February.
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Takitaki, 29, was signed as an unrestricted free agent on March 14, 2024. The Patriots missed him for the majority of training camp last season, as injuries limited him to just four starts on the season.
New England saves just under $3 million against the cap with the move. The Patriots are now expected to have roughly $136 million to work with this offseason. The NFL on Wednesday sent a memo to teams informing them that the salary cap will fall in the range of $277.5 million to $281.5 million in 2025.
The Patriots' release of Sione Takitaki offers a clue as to who's really in charge of personnel decisions in New England, says Phil Perry.
www.nbcsportsboston.com
Sione Takitaki was on the field for just 17 percent of the New England Patriots' defensive snaps last season. So, why does the Patriots' release of the veteran linebacker on Wednesday warrant further discussion?
For starters, Takitaki was under contract for the 2025 season after the team signed him to a two-year, $6.6 million contract in 2024 free agency. By releasing him with a year left on his deal, the Patriots are clearly signaling that they didn't view Takitaki as having a role on the 2025 squad.
More notably, though, it's worth noting who was leading New England's personnel department when Takitaki was signed -- de facto general manager Eliot Wolf -- compared to now.
The Patriots released Sione Takitaki on Wednesday, a move that seems to reflect first-year coach Mike Vrabel's influence in shaping the roster.
www.espn.com
Takitaki played in 11 games last season for the Patriots, with four starts. He totaled 18 tackles and played just 17% of the defensive snaps. He had a knee scope last offseason, opened the season on the physically unable to perform list and never seemed to be 100% upon his return.
Releasing Takitaki also signals how the Patriots are transitioning to a new defensive scheme under Vrabel and first-year defensive coordinator Terrell Williams, and possibly placing a higher value on different traits. Last year, the 6-foot-1, 245-pound Takitaki had been viewed as an ideal fit as a versatile linebacker who could play off the line of scrimmage and on the edge, which was referred to as a "joker" role as a staple of the old scheme under Bill Belichick and Mayo.
Examining the Patriots' rapid roster overhaul, Christian Gonzalez's contract holdout, A.J. Brown's offensive impact, and key trade rumors.
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Linebackers/Edge (9): (0)
Final day of the 2023 season: Ja’Whaun Bentley, Jahlani Tavai, Anfernee Jennings, Mack Wilson Sr., Matthew Judon, Chris Board, Sione Takitaki, Marte Mapu, Ronnie Perkins
Current: Harold Landry III, Gabe Jacas, Elijah Ponder, Quintayvious Hutchins, Christian Elliss, Namdi Obiazor, Otis Reese, Robert Spillane, K.J. Britt, Chad Muma, Amari Gainer, Dre’Mont Jones, Bradyn Swinson, Jesse Luketa
Get Sione Takitaki Career game log for regular season and playoff games on Pro-football-reference.com.
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The trusted source for pro football information about Sione Takitaki. Get statistics, transactions. biographical data and more at Pro Football Archives.
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Sione Takitaki contract and salary cap details, including signing bonus, guaranteed salary, dead money, roster bonuses, and contract history
overthecap.com
Career Earnings: $10,573,376
Career APY: $1,510,482
