EAGEN, Minn. — The Patriots will have a difficult decision to make about safety Kyle Dugger in less than two weeks when they trim their roster down to 53 players.
Dugger, a defensive starter for the Patriots since he was selected in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft, has been demoted to the second-unit defense in recent practices.
That was the case once again on Wednesday in a joint practice with the Vikings. It was Jabrill Peppers, Jaylinn Hawkins and rookie Craig Woodson taking first-team reps, while Dugger was relegated to backup duties with Marcus Epps.
Head coach Mike Vrabel was asked Wednesday what Dugger, who signed a four-year, $58 million contract with $32.5 million in guarantees, could do to work back into the first-team defense.
“I think just making sure that he’s where he needs to be and understanding the coverage concepts and everything we do,” Vrabel said. “Keep working and keep progressing. A lot of this is the guys that have earned a right to take a look with that first unit, and again, there’ll be different lineups and different things, so just focus on the reps that you get.
“Right now, his attitude’s been great, and he’s had a long recovery in the offseason. He’s been out there, and he’s continued to get better and work, and I think the more that he practices, the better he’s going to feel and the more that it’s going to translate onto the football field.”
Dugger struggled last season while attempting to play through a high ankle sprain. He missed spring practices but began the summer on the first-team defense. Over the last week, it’s become clear that Hawkins has, at least for now, taken over his role at safety.
“I think he’s done a nice job of coming in, communicating and playing pretty much all the different techniques that we’ve asked these guys to do on the back end,” Vrabel said of Hawkins. “I think he’s playing with some speed and plays with some physicality. You saw a couple passes out to the perimeter that he was on and tight coverage in the game.
“I just really evaluated him and decided to get him back from last year. He did a nice job and played all special teams, played a lot of defense when guys went down. So, he’s continuing to take advantage of his opportunities, and then we’ll see where that goes.”
Hawkins was one of the few Patriots free agents brought back by Vrabel’s regime. This summer, when the Patriots held an intra-squad scrimmage, Hawkins was among the Patriots’ captains.
Dugger, meanwhile, has the third-highest base salary ($9.75 million) on the Patriots this season. He can make an additional $1 million in per-game roster bonuses. So, if he’s kept, the team would be paying him over $10 million to be a backup.
There aren’t any perfect avenues to take with Dugger’s future, however. Cutting Dugger, whose salary is guaranteed this season, would result in $14.25 million in dead money and just over $1 million in cap savings. Trading Dugger would free up over $10 million in cap space, but it would be extremely difficult to find a trade partner willing to take on a $9.75 million salary for a 29-year-old player returning from injury.
The Patriots do have nearly $60 million in cap space, so if any team is equipped to cut a player and take on a massive amount of dead money, it’s them.
