With one week to go until the NFL trade deadline, the New England Patriots already made their first moves. On Tuesday, the team of head coach Mike Vrabel shipped defensive end Keion White to the San Francisco
49ers and followed it up by sending safety Kyle Dugger to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The trades are following the same structure and background. In both cases, the team has parted ways with a former starter no longer a scheme fit under Vrabel; in both cases, a sixth-round draft pick in 2026 was gained in return for player plus seventh-rounder.
Besides upgrading their draft portfolio next spring, though, here is what the two trades mean for the Patriots.
Keion White: Traded to 49ers
Promise unfulfilled: In his first ever game with the Patriots, back as a second-round rookie in 2023, White saw reps against Philadelphia Eagles tackle Lane Johnson and managed to give the All-Pro some problems in pass protection. It was a sign of the immense disruptive talent White brought to the table coming out of Georgia Tech, and how the team found a way to create favorable matchups for him. But while he remained on a mostly upward trajectory through his first two seasons, he failed to build on his momentum in 2025 and ultimately is leaving New England as a “what could have been” type of player.
Writing on the wall, Pt. 1: White getting traded is not the surprise it might have been just a few months ago. Despite his potential, he never seemed to quite fit what the new-look coaching staff under Mike Vrabel was looking for: he was converted from a hybrid interior player to more of a traditional edge, but the move forced him to reinvent himself — a process that did not go as smoothly as either party had hoped. As a result, White first lost his starting job and ultimately his spot on the roster.
Depth impact: Even though he was no longer a starter and had been made a healthy scratch for the Patriots’ game against the Cleveland Browns over the weekend, White still brought (theoretical) depth to the team’s edge. With him gone, that depth behind starters Harold Landry and K’Lavon Chaisson is being tested. Anfernee Jennings and undrafted rookie Elijah Ponder project as the next men up, with recent waiver claim Caleb Murphy also part of the mix. Fifth-round draft pick Bradyn Swinson provides an extra body on the practice squad, but it is clear that a lot is being asked of Landry and Chaisson given the current composition of the group.
First shoe to drop? With the Patriots’ edge depth a question mark beyond Landry and Chaisson, they might be looking at the trade market yet again. The team has been eying a veteran addition for a while now, and it would not be a surprise if something materialized over the course of the next week: New England has the means and the willingness to bring players in. Who may or may not be on the team’s target list is anybody’s guess, but players such as the Titans’ Arden Key and the Giants’ Kayvon Thibodeaux are worth keeping an eye on given their connections to the Patriots’ staff.
Cap considerations: Trading White does not just slightly increase New England’s draft value in 2026, it also adds to the team’s salary cap in both 2025 and 2026. The move creates $810,110 in savings this season, according to cap expert Miguel Benzan, followed by roughly $1.8 million next year. Those numbers are not massive given that White is still on his rookie deal, but they do add to the Patriots’ financial flexibility when it comes to making potential follow-up moves or being aggressive during the upcoming offseason.
Kyle Dugger: Traded to Steelers
Productive tenure over: Despite Dugger leaving New England in a relatively unceremonious fashion, there is no denying the impact that he had had on the team and its defense after joining as a second-round draft pick in 2020. At his peak, he was one of the top safeties in football — a Pro Bowl-caliber do-it-all chess piece with a knack for the football capable of serving as a glue guy in a complex schematic environment. For a variety of reasons, he failed to return to that peak in the last two seasons, but that does not mean he was not a productive player during his time as a Patriot as well as an overall good draft investment.
Writing on the wall, Pt. 2: With the nagging ankle issue that plagued him in 2024 behind him, Dugger seemed poised to resume his starting role in the Patriots’ secondary even under a new coaching staff. However, while he did indeed enter training camp as one of the team’s starters at safety, he gradually saw his reps go to rookie Craig Woodson. Toward the end of the summer, he had officially been demoted to second- and even third-stringer. He eventually settled into the No. 3 role behind Woodson and Jaylinn Hawkins during the regular season, but his grasp onto a roster spot looked tenuous over the first eight weeks of the season. As a consequence, him getting traded did not come as too big of a shock.
Culture shift ongoing: Ever since his arrival as head coach in January, Mike Vrabel has made it clear that he wants his team to forge its own identity and rebuild the culture that started to erode under his predecessor, Jerod Mayo. Part of this process was moving on from some longtime cornerstones and team captains: the first to go were David Andrews (released), Ja’Whaun Bentley (released), Jonathan Jones (not re-signed) and Deatrich Wise Jr. (not re-signed); later, Jabrill Peppers (released) joined them on the outs. Now, Dugger — who like the other five men was acquired by former Patriots coach Bill Belichick — is also no his way out of town. Coincidentally, he is reuniting with his former teammate Peppers in Pittsburgh.
Depth impact: What looked like a definitive strength for the Patriots early in training camp has since become an area of concern. With Dugger now following Peppers to the Steelers, the team has only five safeties left on its pay roll: starters Jaylinn Hawkins and Craig Woodson, backups/special teamers Dell Pettus and Brenden Schooler, and practice squad member Richie Grant. As is the case along the edge post-Keion White, a lot is being asked of the two starters in this current setup — unless the team has supreme confidence in Dell Pettus to take over as the No. 3 safety.
Cap considerations: The Patriots are generating cap savings by sending Dugger to Pittsburgh, but there is no clarity yet what those will look like. On paper, trading him will free up $5.8 million this season, followed by $7 million in 2026 and $18 million in 2027. However, the belief is that New England will retain parts of his current salary on its books as a deal-sweetener for the Steelers. How much exactly is not known at the moment, but we do know that Dugger’s remaining 2025 base salary stands at $4.3 million.
