Three days after the NFL’s 53-man roster deadline, the Patriots released veteran safety Jabrill Peppers in a surprise move.
Peppers once projected to start for New England, having spent most of training camp with the first-team defense. League sources indicated Peppers was not shopped prior to his release, and he was not made available for trade to the extent fellow safety Kyle Dugger was for most of the summer. Like Dugger, Peppers’ role diminished toward the end of the training camp, though he was never relegated to scout-team duty.
The 29-year-old took several snaps in the team’s preseason finale last week against the Giants, a decision coach Mike Vrabel explained by saying the coaching staff wanted him to get reps with rookie safety Craig Woodson, another projected starter.
“Pep’s played a couple of different spots, and I wanted to just see him play safety alongside Craig,” Vrabel said on Aug. 21. “He’s played some nickel(back), he’s played some in-the-box on third down, he’s played in different places. And tonight where we wanted to see him was alongside Craig, playing safety exclusively.”
The Patriots filled Peppers’ roster spot by claiming rookie defensive tackle Eric Gregory off waivers from Cincinnati. The 6-foot-3, 319-pounder was a two-year starter at Arkansas, where he posted three sacks and 42 tackles last season.
Over the past two seasons, Peppers started all 21 games he appeared in for the Patriots. He snatched a career-high two interceptions and forced a fumble around 78 tackles in 2023, his best season in New England. Last summer, the team signed him to a three-year, $24 million contract extension and he was named a team captain, but domestic violence and drug charges kept Peppers off the field for most of the ensuing season.
Peppers was acquitted of all assault charges in January, three months after his arrest following a late-night confrontation with a woman at his Braintree home.
In January, he told reporters: “I had to be quiet for three months. This was all I could think about, and this is the first time in my life where football wasn’t the most important thing on my mind. I had to just sit through everyone pouring dirt on my name, everybody for the most part thinking that I actually did these things. … To me, crimes against children and women are the most egregious things that you can do. To be accused of that, it just hurt.”
According to reports, Peppers was not cut because of a new off-field incident. Peppers had $4.32 million guaranteed left on his contract and will leave a $4 million dead cap hit on the team’s books, per Over the Cap. The move frees up just over $1 million in cap space for the Patriots.
Peppers leaves behind Woodson, Jaylinn Hawkins, Dugger, second-year backup Dell Pettus and special teamer Brenden Schooler in the safeties room. Dugger was one of the last players to make the 53-man roster on Tuesday, per sources. The Patriots couldn’t find a taker in trade talks and were unwilling to eat enough of his contract for Dugger’s top suitor, according to a source.
It’s possible Peppers’ contract factored into the decision to release him, as well as his diminished role and fit in the Patriots’ new culture. Vrabel has released several players who had prominent roles in past regimes. All six captains from last year’s team – including Peppers – are now gone.
The Patriots have also undergone a significant scheme change, which forced Peppers, Dugger and outside linebacker Anfernee Jennings – who was also shopped – to embrace different playing styles. For example, neither Peppers nor Dugger are regarded as strong defenders in man-to-man coverage, a common assignment for safeties in Vrabel’s defense. Jennings, meanwhile, is a hard-nose run-stopper with 5.5 career sacks who must know rush up field and create disruption instead of setting the edge.
On Friday, the Patriots also signed ex-Raiders offensive tackle Thayer Munford Jr. to their practice squad and waived rookie offensive lineman Jack Conley. Munford entered the league as a seventh-round pick out of Ohio State in 2022, when Pats offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was the head coach in Las Vegas.
Munford has logged 18 starts over 46 career game appearances. He was waived on Wednesday.
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