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The Patriots on Friday surprisingly released veteran S Jabrill Peppers, despite having $4.32 million guaranteed left on his contract for 2025. Peppers had recently appeared to slip down the depth chart and then played deep into the team's final preseason game. The team now looks poised to run Jaylinn Hawkins and rookie Craig Woodson as the safety starters, with Kyle Dugger and Dell Pettus backing them up.
ESPN's Mike Reiss: "Peppers, 29, was a favorite of former coaches Bill Belichick and Jerod Mayo for his hard-hitting, physical style of play, especially against the run -- a similar skill set to Dugger's. Peppers' fit in the scheme employed by first-year coach Mike Vrabel was evolving over the course of training camp, as he began on the first unit before being surpassed by Hawkins and Woodson in recent weeks."
Karen Guregian of Mass Live: "Dugger, who was coming off ankle surgery, played late into preseason games with the scrubs ... which is never a good sign. [The] veteran safety, looked old and slow."
Dugger's name got heavily floated as a trade candidate, but other teams must have viewed his preseason similarly. It certainly didn't help his trade case that Dugger still carries a $15.2 million cap hit for this season and $13.5 million in dead-cap charges over the next two years, according to Spotrac.
So Dugger made the regular-season roster, but he's expected to play behind Hawkins and Woodson.
Hawkins started seven games for last year's Patriots and proved fine. He has exceeded a 55% snap share for just one of his six NFL seasons to date, though, across three NFL teams. Hawkins' lone full year of starter duty came with the 2022 Falcons. He finished outside the top 50 fantasy DBs.
Woodson arrived as a fourth-round pick after starting his final three seasons at Cal. He's likely to spend more time "in the box" than Hawkins and thus present more tackle upside. Woodson showed good speed with a 4.45-second 40 time at the Combine but posted only modest coverage numbers in college.
I wouldn't target either Pats safety in most IDP drafts. But Woodson will be worth watching early.
If you drafted early and got Dugger, don't hesitate to replace him.
Anfernee Jennings doesn't factor into the secondary, but the edge/LB faces a situation similar to Dugger's. New England openly shopped Jennings, found no takers, and kept him on the regular-season roster.
The new Patriots staff tried Jennings as more of an off-ball LB than edge player, and it doesn't look like a fit. He should be off IDP radars, at least for now.
Peppers, Dugger, and Jennings have fallen way down our IDP rankings. Hawkins and Woodson have climbed, with the rookie ahead of the vet. Don't expect either to become a big factor, though.
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