Pats Pulpit
The New England Patriots were back on the practice fields on Monday, and back tinkering with the back-end of their roster. They signed veteran defensive tackle Kyle Peko as a free agent, and in a follow-up move opted to released fellow DT Bryce Ganious to create space on their 90-man roster.
Let’s analyze what the moves mean for the club.
Experience and familiarity: An undrafted free agent out of Oregon State in 2016, Peko has played quite a bit of football over the course of his NFL career. In total, he has appeared in 48 regular season and playoff games with 14 starts, registering 60 combined tackles as well as two and a half sacks and a forced fumble. He did so while spending time with six different teams — including Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel’s ex-club, the Tennessee Titans.
Peko had two separate stints under Vrabel. He originally joined the club in July 2021 and ended up appearing in eight games. After a brief stint with the Las Vegas Raiders (who were then led by current Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels), he returned to Tennessee in August 2023. His second stint as a Titan was his most productive tenure to date: primarily appearing on early downs and as a run defender, he played 342 defensive snaps over 13 games and finished with a career-best 22 tackles.
Disruptive potential: Listed at 6-foot-1, 305 pounds, Peko has mostly been used as a rotational early-down defender. However, thanks to his quickness, refined hands and surprising range from the interior, he also has had some success rushing the passer. He may only have those aforementioned 2.5 sacks to his name, but two of them came during his time with the Titans.
Mike Vrabel and Terrell Williams have shown that they can get the best out of Peko. However, he also was an important piece of the puzzle last year in Detroit before suffering a season-ending pectoral injury in October.
“Peko’s been of those kind of silent producers for us,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said at the time. “Does all the dirty work, and he’s the one who frees up Alex [Anzalone] and Jack [Campbell] and [Malcolm Rodriguez] to make the plays they make. And then, he held down the fort until [D.J.] Reader got back, and then he was a rotational guy. We hate it for him. We’re going to miss him.”
Benefit candidate: Having been in the NFL since 2016 and earning seven credited seasons along the way, Peko stands to receive a base salary of at least $1.255 million in 2025 — the minimum amount for a player of his experience. However, that number does not necessarily have to be his cap impact this year.
The 32-year-old, after all, meats the credited seasons threshold to qualify for veterans salary benefit status. Under this stipulation, as defined by the NFL-NFLPA Collective Bargaining Agreement, only part of that $1.255 million will actually count against...
