The New England Patriots have had Kyle Dugger on the trade block for several months, and they finally found a taker on Tuesday in the form of the Pittsburgh Steelers. With the Steelers in desperate need of some help in the secondary, they decided to make a deal by sending a sixth-round pick to New England in exchange for Dugger and a seventh-round pick.
The 29-year-old Dugger had been with the Patriots since 2020 when the team selected him in the second round of the NFL Draft. If you were watching the draft that year, you probably remember when Dugger got selected, and that's mostly because his pick happened while Bill Belichick's dog, Nike, was running the Patriots' war room.
With Dugger headed to Pittsburgh, let's grade the trade.
Steelers: B+
Two weeks ago, the Steelers were 4-1 and looked to be in command of the AFC North, but after losing two straight games where their defense got torched, it became pretty clear they were probably going to have to make a move to help bolster their secondary.
The Steelers have surrendered an average of 273.3 passing yards per game this year, which is the worst number in the NFL by far. (No other team is even giving up 260 yards per game). The Steelers defense hit rock bottom over the past two weeks with Joe Flacco throwing for 342 yards in the Cincinnati Bengals' 33-31 win and Jordan Love racking up 360 yards in the Packers' 35-25 victory. The Bengals finished with 470 total yards while the Packers amassed 454.
If you're wondering just how bad things have gotten, the Steelers became just the seventh team since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 to allow at least 450 total yards and 30 points or more while forcing zero turnovers in back-to-back games. To make things worse, safety DeShon Elliott suffered a knee injury against the Packers and is expected to miss some time. That created a gaping hole in the secondary and explains why the Steelers decided to make a deal for Dugger.
During his five and a half seasons in New England, Dugger started in 69 of the 81 games he played in, so he has plenty of experience. Dugger isn't someone who makes a lot of big plays -- he hasn't had an interception since 2023 -- but he's a versatile player who could thrive in Mike Tomlin's system. Dugger can play closer to the line of scrimmage or further back as a traditional safety, which could make him a perfect Swiss Army knife for Tomlin.
The Steelers are getting a high grade because this is a low-risk move with the possibility of a high reward. They absolutely had to do something in the secondary, and adding Dugger cost them almost nothing. Not only are they only giving up a sixth-round pick (plus getting a seventh-rounder in return), but they barely have to pay him, as the Patriots will be paying "most" of the $5.4 million Dugger has left in base salary this year, per NFL Media. The final two years of Dugger's deal are also being voided as part of the trade, so he'll be a free agent after the 2025 season. This is essentially a test drive costing the Steelers almost nothing.
Patriots: C+
After Dugger got demoted from his starting safety spot in August, the writing was pretty much on the wall that he wasn't going to be sticking around much longer in New England. Belichick drafted Dugger, and he managed to keep his starting job during Jerod Mayo's one year as the Patriots' head coach in 2024. But after Mike Vrabel was hired, he was on thin ice. Once training camp started, it was pretty clear Vrabel didn't feel like Dugger was a good fit for his scheme.
It didn't help that Dugger had a rough offseason: He underwent ankle surgery in January, and by the time August rolled around, the ankle still didn't feel 100%.
"It's weird. There's little stuff like that where some stuff feels fine. And then other times, it's like, 'Woah, OK. That didn't feel like it normally feels,'" Dugger said on Aug. 22. "I don't always know where there's going to be rust."
Dugger signed a four-year, $58 million contract extension in April 2024, and when that happened, it looked like he was going to play a key part of the Patriots' secondary for years to come. Eighteen months later, he's on his way out of New England and headed to Pittsburgh.
The fact that the Patriots were willing to pay most of Dugger's deal tells you they were willing to get rid of him for almost anything. He was a player they simply wanted to move on from at any cost.
The Patriots now have two extra sixth-round picks in their pocket heading into the 2026 NFL Draft. They got one for Dugger and another for sending defensive end Keion White to the San Francisco 49ers just hours before the Dugger trade on Tuesday.