Outside of Puka Nacua, no former BYU football player in the NFL had a more impactful 2025 season than Khyiris Tonga.
The veteran defensive tackle landed with the New England Patriots this past season, making New England his fourth team in five years. The fit was perfect. He started eight of 14 games and was featured heavily in packages designed to stop the run, playing 40% of the Patriots defensive snaps.
While traditional stats never fully capture the impact of block-eating interior defensive linemen -- their job is to often plug the middle to allow linebackers and defensive ends to make plays -- Tonga racked up 24 tackles, two tackles for loss, two passes defended, and two quarterback hits.
PFF graded him out as the No. 38 of 134 interior defensive linemen on the season.
Khyiris was a perfect fit on a New England defense that won the AFC Championship and reached the Super Bowl. And on the game's biggest stage, Tonga made a tackle and blew up a few other plays as the Patriots fell to the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl:
BYU stud Khyiris Tonga (No. 95) blows up a Seahawks first down run by dog walking the center three yards into the backfield.
— Diggin’ Brigham (@DigginBrigham) February 9, 2026
Led to a tackle for loss and a three-and-out the Patriots desperately needed. pic.twitter.com/FLdco3n1jY
What's next for Khyiris Tonga?
The 6-foot-2, 335-pound behemoth signed a one-year, $2.1 million deal with the Patriots for the 2025 season. He's now a free agent. But don't be surprised if he re-signs on a multi-year deal to stay in New England. The marriage seems perfect for both parties.
From Tonga's perspective, he's a starter on a Super Bowl-caliber team. He fits the scheme perfectly and it plays to his strengths. New England could likely give him what he has been working for his entire career: Opportunity and stability.
Khyiris has bounced around a lot in his career looking for what the Patriots gave him this year. He was a seventh-round pick by the Chicago Bears in 2021 and was surprisingly released after registering 24 tackles in 15 games in his rookie season. He spent 2022 and 2023 with the Minnesota Vikings appearing in 25 games with 43 tackles. In 2024 he signed with the Arizona Cardinals for a one-year stint with 22 tackles in 13 games before joining the Patriots this past season.
As an outsider looking in, I'd suspect the 29-year-old journeyman would jump on a multi-year contract to stay in New England. His market value is higher now than the $2.1 million he earned in 2025, but he won't demand a big-time contract. My assumption is that his agent can negotiate a deal that far exceeds what he made this past season on a number that works just fine for the Patriots' salary cap.
From a team perspective, the Patriots are going to want to return as many defensive players as possible on what became one of the NFL's best defensive units. Their 320 points allowed on the season ranked fourth in the league, and Khyiris Tonga played a key role in that success. New England will want him back.
It was a great season for former BYU stud Khyiris Tonga. It was thrilling to root for him in the Super Bowl, even though his team came up short.
He seems to have finally found his football home in New England after a successful, impactful, career-altering fifth season in the NFL.