Before the franchise tag deadline, the New England Patriots delivered a mild surprise by utilizing a $13.8 million transition tag on safety Kyle Dugger.
Per ESPN Stats & Info, via Mike Reiss, the transition tag has only been used six times over the last 15 years. So these were clearly unique circumstances for the Patriots to go to such measures in an effort to keep Dugger in the defensive backfield.
With the move, New England earned the right to match any offer Dugger receives from another team. Patriots coach Jerod Mayo commented on the matter on Tuesday.
“Kyle is a talented player with a strong work ethic who has improved every year and been extremely productive since joining our team in 2020,” said Mayo, via Patriots.com. “We value players with high character and chose to use the transition designation to give both sides more time to try to reach a long-term agreement, which is our goal with Kyle.”
An argument could be made that free agent offensive lineman Mike Onwenu should have been a higher priority for the Patriots. Maybe that’s still the case, and the team didn’t think tagging him was necessary.
Dugger is a solid player in the defensive backfield, and the unit is clearly better with him back there. Defense was the calling card for the Patriots throughout the 2023 season, and it appears like that’ll remain the case in 2024 as well.
However, the offense remains a serious issue, and now, there are bigger questions than ever before with both starting tackles, Onwenu and Trent Brown, becoming free agents.
