Kyle Dugger and Anfernee Jennings, two former starting defenders and the longest-tenured members of the New England Patriots’ current roster, are up for sale. According to a report by Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald, both are available to be acquired by other teams.
Dugger has already been mentioned “in talks with at least one team,” while Jennings was “raised in exploratory discussions earlier this summer.” The Patriots are willing to listen to offers for both veterans, who lost their positions within the starting defense under new head coach Mike Vrabel.
Dugger and Jennings both arrived in New England on the second day of the 2020 NFL Draft, and over the course of their respective rookie contracts developed into core members of the Patriots defense.
Dugger, 29, has started a combined 66 regular season and playoff games at the safety position for the team. A versatile playmaker at his peak, he signed a four-year, $58 million contract extension last offseason but was subsequently hampered by an ankle injury. Working his way back from the ailment, he originally filled his usual spot with the starting defense to start training camp.
However, he has since lost his position in the rotation. First, he was removed from three-safety packages; recently, he was relegated to scout team duty. In the Patriots’ preseason game against the Minnesota Vikings last Saturday, he was on the field for a team-high 45 defensive snaps while playing deep into the fourth quarter. Dugger caught the game-deciding interception on the final play of the day, but his usage was further proof of his fall from grace.
Jennings, 27, was a relative late bloomer and took until his fourth season in the NFL to fully break out. At that point, he established himself as one of the best run-stopping outside linebackers in the league, and went on to start 30 games between the 2023 and 2024 seasons. In between, he too signed a new deal: the former third-round pick put his signature under a three-year, $12 million extension last March.
Like Dugger, however, he too lost his previous spot under a new-look defense led by Mike Vrabel and coordinator Terrell Williams. Free agency acquisitions Harold Landry and K’Lavon Chaisson as well as rookies Bradyn Swinson and Elijah Ponder pushed Jennings down the depth chart. He did register three sacks against Minnesota, and was praised by Vrabel for maximizing his opportunities after the game, but his path onto the 53-man roster still is unclear.
As a consequence, both he and Dugger are now possibly on their way out of town.
“It doesn’t matter what your status was or what people think it should be, everybody’s out there competing. Those guys are doing a good job,” Williams told reporters on Tuesday, while also claimed that they would be “fits” for the Patriots’ new defense.
“Of course they’re fits. I mean, they play hard, they play physical. Everybody’s competing for jobs right now.”
The Patriots will take on the New York Giants in their preseason finale on Thursday, 8 p.m. ET, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. Next Tuesday, they will have to cut their roster from currently 91 to 53 players.
