The Patriots have come to an agreement with safety Kyle Dugger on a four-year contract extension according to a report from NFL Network's Mike Garafolo, as the team continues an offseason trend of securing their own players on multi-year pacts.
According to Ian Rapoport, the deal has a base of $58 million with $32.5 million guaranteed, and could be worth up to $66 million, as Dugger joins Mike Owenu (three-year deal) and Anfernee Jennings (three-year deal) as recent Patriots draft picks to receive significant second contracts with the team this offseason.
Along with a one-year pact with Josh Uche and three-year deals for 2021 free agent additions Hunter Henry and Kendrick Bourne, the team has prioritized rebuilding a base and establishing needed continuity with some of their best performers of recent seasons.
Dugger had been hit earlier this offseason with a one-year transition tag, but the team expressed optimism it would buy time to negotiate a long deal and that has come to fruition with just over two weeks to go until the NFL Draft.
A 2020 second-round pick out of Lenoir-Rhyne, Dugger has emerged as a physical, playmaking presence in a variety of roles in the secondary. Last year following Devin McCourty's retirement, Dugger saw increased snaps on the back end, going from 82 snaps at free safety in 2022 to 371 there in 2023. Yet Dugger still set a career-high in tackles with 109 and played in all 17 games while his interception and forced fumble stats remained nearly identical to his breakout 2022 numbers.
A scoop-and-score and pick-six in 2022 remain two of Dugger's best career highlights as he continues to develop his all-around game playing all over the defense.
Dugger's new deal locks him in as one of the team's long-term building blocks. Alongside Jabill Peppers, the Patriots will boast two hard-hitting and versatile players inside the box but could still consider adding a third dynamic back-end presence in the draft to round out responsibilities and lean into everyone's strengths.
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