FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Patriots announced today that they have signed three free agents. Terms of the contracts were not announced. The Patriots signed the following players: DB Jabrill Peppers as an unrestricted free agent, RB James Robinson as a free agent and WR JuJu Smith-Schuster as an unrestricted free agent from Kansas City. Peppers originally joined New England as an unrestricted free agent from the New York Giants on April 4, 2022.
Peppers, 27, is a veteran of six NFL seasons with the Cleveland Browns (2017-18), New York Giants (2019-21) and New England (2022). The 5-foot-11, 215-pounder originally entered the NFL as a first-round draft pick (25th overall) by Cleveland out of Michigan in the 2017 NFL Draft. He was traded by Cleveland to the New York Giants along with OL Kevin Zeitler and a 2019 first and third-round draft pick in exchange for WR Odell Beckham Jr. and DL Olivier Vernon on March 13, 2019. Peppers has played in 78 games with 64 starts and has 380 total tackles, 4 ½ sacks, four interceptions with one returned for a touchdown, 25 passes defensed, four forced fumbles and six fumble recoveries. In addition, he has returned 83 punts for 693 yards and 34 kicks for 749 yards. Last season, Peppers played in 17 games with five starts and accumulated 52 total tackles with one fumble recovery and eight special teams tackles.
Robinson, 24, is a veteran of three NFL seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars (2020-22) and the New York Jets (2022). The 5-foot-9, 219-pounder originally entered the NFL as a rookie free agent with Jacksonville on April 27, 2020 out of Illinois State. He was traded from Jacksonville to the N.Y. Jets on Oct. 25, 2022 for a 2023 conditional draft pick. Overall, he has played in 39 regular season games with 32 starts and has 2,262 rushing yards on 514 attempts with 18 touchdowns and 91 receptions for 617 yards with five touchdowns. As a rookie in 2020, Robinson became the fourth undrafted player to reach 1,000 yards after finishing with 1,070 yards, joining Dominic Rhodes (Indianapolis), LeGarrette Blount (Tampa Bay) and Phillip Lindsay (Denver). His 1,414 scrimmage yards during his rookie season are the most scrimmage yards by an undrafted rookie in NFL history. Last season, he played in 11 games with five starts overall and accumulated 425 rushing yards on 110 carries with three touchdowns and 11 receptions for 51 yards with two touchdowns.
Smith-Schuster, 26, is a veteran of six NFL seasons with Pittsburgh (2017-21) and Kansas City (2022). The 6-foot-1, 215-pounder originally entered the NFL as a second-round draft pick (62nd overall) by Pittsburgh out of Southern California in the 2017 NFL Draft. He signed with Kansas City as an unrestricted free agent from Pittsburgh on March 21, 2022. Overall, he has played in 79 regular season games with 65 starts and has 401 receptions for 4,788 yards and 29 touchdowns. He has also returned nine kickoffs for 240 yards and one touchdown. In addition, Smith-Schuster has played in six postseason games with five starts and has 31 receptions for 277 yards and two touchdowns. He earned Pro Bowl honors in 2018 after finishing with 111 receptions for 1,426 yards and seven touchdowns and 18 100-yard games. Last season with Kansas City, he played in 16 games with 14 starts and registered 78 receptions for 933 yards and three touchdowns.
