The New England Patriots find themselves, remarkably, at the pinnacle of the AFC East heading into week 7, having recorded their third win in a row against the New Orleans Saints last Sunday.
Despite signing a 4 year, $58 million contract last offseason, Dugger has become very much the third choice in the pecking order at safety, behind rookie, Craig Woodson, and free agent addition this past offseason, Jaylinn Hawkins.
Although the former second round pick has hardly been frozen out of the team, prior to Hawkins’ injury in week 6, Dugger had only managed more than 50% of snaps on defense in one game this season, during week 4’s blowout win against the Carolina Panthers.
Patriots Could Look To Move Safety Ahead Of Trade Deadline
As a result, CBS Sports’ Jeff Kerr has labelled him as one of the top safety that could be traded ahead of the deadline.
There was noise prior to the start of the 2025 season that Dugger could lose his starting role due to ongoing poor performances – both last season and in the pre-season this past summer. And now that Dugger has seemingly lost his spot as one of the preferred two safeties when all are healthy, it would not be shocking to see him find a new home in the league.
“A former starter in New England, Dugger has been playing just 36% of the snaps in Mike Vrabel’s defense.” Kerr wrote on Wednesday. “The Patriots have tried to move Dugger after he was demoted to the second string, but haven’t found a taker yet. ”
Kyle Dugger Having Another Underwhelming Season
This season, as maybe expected from a now-backup, Dugger has not posted the kind of numbers that one might hope for with a player with a contract of his size.
“The 29-year-old Dugger has just 15 tackles and no interceptions in his limited snaps, with a 79.0 passer rating in coverage as the primary defender. He has a cap hit of $17 million in 2026 and $18 million in 2027, making moving on from Dugger even harder.”
Although there is no doubt that the ex Lenior-Rhyne startlet can still play in the league – either as a strong third option or lower-end starter – Kerr explains that if the team are serious about moving on from him they will likely be forced to absorb at least some of his cap in any future trade before November’s deadline.
“Dugger needs to play in the right system, and the Patriots have to be willing to absorb his money to move on. With Kirk Cousins, many teams don’t want to have Dugger at that price — even if they can save $8 million in cap space by moving on after the season.”
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