HEADLINES

Craig Woodson

Patriots To Release S Jabrill Peppers

August 29th, 2025 at 11:01pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Patriots are releasing veteran safety Jabrill Peppers, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Peppers, 29, was set to enter his fourth season in New England before he was cut. As a vested veteran, he is not subject to waivers and is free to sign with any team (or their practice squad) right away.

The eight-year veteran was acquired by Bill Belichick in the legendary coach’s second-to-last season in New England. Peppers had a rotational third safety role in 2022 before emerging as a full-time starter the following year. He signed a three-year extension before the 2024 season, but missed eight games due to a suspension and three more to a hamstring injury.

The suspension stemmed from an arrest and subsequent charges for domestic violence and drug possession and cast doubt on Peppers’ future. In January, he was acquitted of the former and admitted to the latter without penalty. Given that he was suspended after the initial arrest but before legal proceedings played out, the league opted not to punish Peppers again.

With his legal issues behind him, it seemed like Peppers would return to a starting role in New England, but new head coach Mike Vrabel had other ideas. While the off-field issues were no longer a concern for the Patriots, per Mike Giardi of the Boston Sports Journal, Peppers saw a role reduction in training camp and appeared in the team’s third preseason game, two signals that his spot wasn’t safe. With trade rumors swirling around Kyle Dugger, who had started at safety for the last four years, it seemed like Peppers was more likely to stick around. However, with no trade partner materializing for Dugger, he stayed on the 53-man roster with Peppers hitting free agency and looking for a new team.

Peppers was of the team’s remaining holdovers from the Belichick years. He was also one of six team captains under Jerod Mayo in 2024; the other five had been sent packing by May, per Ben Volin of The Boston Globe. His release is a confirmation of Vrabel’s desire to move on from the Patriots’ teams that struggled over the past few seasons and establish a new era of football in New England.

The Patriots defense will move forward with six-year veteran Jaylinn Hawkins and fourth-round rookie Craig Woodson as their starting safeties. Hawkins took over a starting role in Peppers’ absence last year, while Woodson has impressed since arriving in New England in the spring. Brenden Schooler and Dell Pettus will provide depth, but this does feel like a position that could use some veteran reinforcement before the regular season.

Peppers’ contract had $4.32MM in guaranteed salary for this season, per Volin. His deal also included offset language, so the Patriots’ dead cap charge will be reduced by whatever Peppers signs for elsewhere (if that happens). He will most likely receive a veteran minimum salary of $1.255MM, so the extra savings would be minimal.

Patriots LB Anfernee Jennings On Roster Bubble; S Kyle Dugger A Release/Trade Candidate?

August 10th, 2025 at 10:01pm CST by Rory Parks

Patriots linebacker Anfernee Jennings started 16 games last season and enjoyed a 79% snap share, both career-high marks. However, he may not be with the team in 2025.

As ESPN’s Mike Reiss observes, Jennings was playing late in the fourth quarter of New England’s first preseason game on Friday, which is not the typical milieu for an established player. In Reiss’ estimation, that is reflective of Jennings’ precarious spot on the roster.

Now entering the second year of the three-year, $12MM contract he signed in March 2024, Jennings has failed to make much of an impact as a pass rusher but has proven himself to be a stout defender against the run. He earned a stellar 85.9 run defense grade from Pro Football Focus in 2023, and though his grade slipped to 73.0 in 2024, he still turned in a solid showing.

While former head coaches Bill Belichick and Jerod Mayo valued Jennings’ contributions as an edge-setter, new HC Mike Vrabel favors a more aggressive, penetrating style of play. Reiss says Jennings is firmly behind new acquisitions Harold Landry and K’Lavon Chaisson on the depth chart, and the sixth-year pro is competing with younger talents like Truman Jones, Bradyn Swinson, and Elijah Ponder.

New England would have to eat $3.35MM in dead money if it were to move on from Jennings and would realize cap savings of just under $2MM. Mike Giardi of the Boston Sports Journal agrees with Reiss’ assessment of the situation and points out that Jennings has been “looking up at the depth chart” since spring practices began. Giardi suggests the Pats will indeed part ways with their 2020 third-rounder at some point.

Another 2020 draftee and stalwart on the Patriots’ defense, Kyle Dugger, could also be a release/trade candidate, per Ben Volin of the Boston Globe. While Dugger’s status in that regard could be more speculation than anything else at this point, Volin does say the 29-year-old has had a quiet camp and may only be on the roster because of his fully-guaranteed 2025 salary of $9.75MM (part of the four-year, $58MM deal he signed last April). 

That said, if another team is willing to absorb some money, Volin believes Dugger could be traded. But no other club produced an offer sheet after the Patriots put the transition tag on Dugger last year — though he did attract some interest at the trade deadline — and the Lenoir-Rhyne product’s frequent struggles in coverage continued in 2024. He allowed a massive 137.4 QB rating as the nearest defender, and PFF placed him near the very bottom of the league in terms of coverage grades.

In Sunday’s training camp practice, Dugger was running with the second-stringers, while rookie Craig Woodson took his place on the first-team unit (via Volin).

NFL Draft Pick Signings: 6/20/25

June 20th, 2025 at 5:52pm CST by Adam La Rose

Friday’s lone draft pick signing:

New England Patriots

With Woodson now on the books, running back TreVeyon Henderson is the only member of New England’s draft class which has not yet signed. A deal for the latter may not be coming any time soon, of course, given the precedent set earlier this spring for second-round picks receiving fully guaranteed deals and the logjam which now exists for players picked during that round.