ClutchPoints
On Tuesday, it was announced that the New England Patriots would be keeping safety Kyle Dugger on their roster for the upcoming 2025 season. The announcement came amid reports throughout this offseason that the Patriots may be willing to move Dugger to a team more positioned to win now and looking to add veteran talent in their defensive backfield.
Recently, NFL insider Jeremy Fowler of ESPN broke down what went into the Patriots’ decision to keep Dugger on the team moving forward.
“The #Patriots got multiple trade offers for safety Kyle Dugger, per source, but his $9.75M guaranteed salary – and how much of it New England would absorb – was a hurdle. For now, he remains on 53-man roster,” reported Fowler on X, formerly Twitter.
The “for now” would seem to indicate that there is still a possibility that Dugger gets traded at some point during the season, but for the time being, it appears his contract situation is making it an untenable move for the Patriots at the current juncture.
While he’s still on the roster, Dugger figures to provide New England with some additional help in the backfield, one of the many areas in which they were not great last year despite the play of young star Christian Gonzalez.
Overall, New England is entering this season projected by some to be a potential sleeper team to secure a playoff berth after not having been to the NFL’s big dance since 2021.
The Patriots are looking forward to seeing continued growth out of quarterback Drake Maye this year, and they also added some help in their wide receiver room in the form of veteran former Pro Bowler Stefon Diggs.
Overall, the Patriots still have some glaring holes on their roster, including on the offensive line, where it’s looking likely that they will be starting multiple rookies to try and give Maye as much time as possible to make things happen in the pocket.
Still, with head coach Mike Vrabel at the helm, Patriots fans have as much hope entering a season as they’ve had in a long while.
New England will kick off its 2025 season on September 7 against the Las Vegas Raiders.
The post Patriots rumors: Why Kyle Dugger made the 53 man roster amid trade speculation appeared first on ClutchPoints.
