Phifer making the Super Bowl was one of the side-show stories of Super Bowl week with the St. Louis and the Boston-area papers doing feature stories on Phifer's Rams connection and now playing them in the "big game" He helped the Patriots to win Super Bowl XXXVI and was rewarded on the off season. On June 21, 2002, the Patriots offered Phifer a 3-year $4.5 million contract with $1.8 million in signing bonuses. When the season finally came around in 2002 Phifer made 109 tackles and started 14 games and was again an alternate to the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl.