After trading Kyle Dugger to the Pittsburgh Steelers, reports emerged that the New England Patriots had been willing to absorb a portion of the veteran safety’s salary to facilitate a move. Indeed, a significant
part of his original $9.75 million base salary for the 2025 season will remain in New England.
However, there is a catch. Before making the move, the Patriots restructured Dugger’s pact by converting parts of his salary into a signing bonus — a move that allowed them to spread the remaining cost out over two seasons. His impact on the team’s books over the remainder of the original deal through 2027 now looks as follows, as broken down by salary cap expert Miguel Benzan:
S Kyle Dugger: Contract details
2025:
Base salary: $4,333,333
Signing bonus (2024 deal): $4,500,000
Signing bonus (2025 deal): $1,588,889
Roster bonus: $411,765
Workout bonus: $260,080
Dead money: $12,177,778
Cap savings: $4,733,987
2026:
Signing bonus (2024 deal): $9,000,000
Signing bonus (2025 deal): $3,177,778
Dead money: $12,177,778
Cap savings: $4,733,987
2027:
Dead money: $0
Cap savings: $18,000,000
The new signing bonus is split in three installments of roughly $1.59 million each. The first of those installments will remain on the Patriots’ salary cap this season, with the other two combining to hit the books in 2026. Together with his preexisting signing bonus of $4.5 million per year as well as the remaining salary for the ongoing season that creates dead cap charges of $11.09 and §12.18 million in 2025 and 2026, respectively.
While Dugger’s financial fingerprints will therefore remain beyond 2025, the team has managed to create gross cap savings in each of the three seasons left on his original deal. They cleared $4.18 million off their books this year, followed by $4.73 million in 2026 and $18 million in 2027.
