We'll be staying spicy in New England for the next few seasons as head coach Jerod Mayo confirmed before Friday's training camp practice that the Patriots were closing in on reaching a contract extension with safety Jabrill Peppers. According to ESPN's Field Yates the deal has a base value of $24 million and could be worth as much as $30 million.
"I am very happy for Peppers and for his family, and also for our team and the organization," said Mayo at the on-field podium shortly after the news was broken by Yates. "He really embodies everything that we want on the field, he's very selfless. He's out there flying around all the time and it's good to get that deal done."
It's an outstanding deal for a player just coming into his potential within the team's defense. Just two days prior Peppers had expressed his desire to remain in New England and what a good fit the Patriots team and the area were for him.
"I love the area, it's not too far from home. It's a perfect fit for me," Peppers said. "I love the guys here, but at the end of the day, all I can control is all I can control."
It didn't take much longer for those things out of his control to all come together, resulting in a deal that ensures Peppers will cement his spot as a foundational piece for the Patriots defense.
Since arriving in 2022 Peppers has emerged as one of the defense's tone-setters and leaders. The former first-round pick, selected 25th overall in 2017 by the Browns, suffered a knee injury in 2021 while with the Giants and then joined the Patriots on a one-year deal the following offseason. Slowly but surely, Peppers began to show the intensity and talent that made him a first-round pick out of Michigan. In 2023, he became a key cog, playing 96 percent of the defensive snaps and posting his third-highest tackle total, while picking off a career-high two passes, forcing a fumble (a nasty hit on Raiders star Davante Adams), and making five tackles for loss.
The Patriots now boast reassuring continuity on the back end of their defense, with a core of Kyle Dugger, Peppers and Christian Gonzalez all potentially locked up through 2027 as Peppers becomes the latest in-house Patriot to sign a long-term extension this off-season. Eliot Wolf has aimed to rebuild the team's core, making pacts with Dugger, Christian Barmore and Anfernee Jennings on the defensive side of the ball.
Now that core will have even more pep in their steps.
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