This offseason, the New England Patriots have started a new era. Former head coach Bill Belichick and the team mutually agreed to part ways after the 2023 season. It ended a 24-year run for Belichick as the top dog in New England. Owner Robert Kraft made a hire from within and promoted Jerod Mayo to be their next head coach.
Mayo is tasked with taking over one of the greatest dynasties in sports history. Not an easy task for a 38-year-old, first-year head coach. New England has signed several free agents this offseason, including players from their roster. Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network reported that Patriots’ safety Kyle Dugger is signing a new four-year extension. Dugger has a base salary of $58 million and a max deal of $66 million. Not a bad second contract in the NFL for a former Division II player.
Kyle Dugger has signed a new extension to stay with the New England Patriots
It’s a 4-year deal worth a base value of $58M with a max of $66M, source says. He gets $32.5M guaranteed. A big-time payday. https://t.co/wdyfEOYDp8
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 7, 2024
In the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft, the Patriots selected Kyle Dugger out of Lenior-Rhyne. That is a Division II school in North Carolina. Dugger quickly proved he belonged in the NFL and was a playmaker since day one. The 28-year-old just finished up the final season of his rookie deal. With that, the Patriots placed the transition tag on Dugger. This had only been used five 10 in the last 10 years by all 32 teams.
Additionally, a safety had never received the transition tag before. Kyle Dugger would have been the first but he was able to strike a deal with the Patriots. Initially, his transition tag was one year, for $13.8 million. After signing an extension, Dugger now has a four-year deal with a base value of $58 million. Through playing time and incentives, his deal has a max value of $66 million. On top of that, Dugger got $32 million guaranteed at signing. That’s an annual average value of 14.5 million. More than he would have received on a one-year transition tag.
Patriots, S Kyle Dugger agree to a four-year deal worth a base value of $58M and a max of $66M, with $32.5M guaranteed. (via @mikegarafolo, @rapsheet, @eric_edholm) pic.twitter.com/uB3DdWjCEm
— NFL (@NFL) April 7, 2024
Kyle Dugger’s 2023 campaign was his most productive in four professional seasons. The 28-year-old had a career-high 109 combined and 71 solo tackles. It was the first time in his career that he played and started every game in a season. New head coach Jerod Mayo loves to see that see players with that type of durability. Dugger has played in 61 games for the Patriots over four seasons and has made 52 starts. Expect to see him thrive next season alongside veteran safety Jabril Peppers. They’ll both be key pieces of New England’s secondary.
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