Patriots Player Departure Jabrill Peppers Released (Update: Signs w/Steelers)

[jdlboot14]

Who knows, but Peppers never lived up to his 1st round billing. BB had resurrected him to a playable option, and he did bring the heat a few times that roused the D. But, he has never been very consistent. Dugger can also provide that occasional helmet-popping tackle or game changing INT. And, I think after Peppers legal issues, Vrabel didn't want him voted as a captain.

And don't forget about Pettus - a bit of a surprise to make the 53, but now I see why. He has some violence and fire at Safety, and could battle Dugger for snaps in the #3 role.
But ultimately, we're praying Woodson turns into Rod Woodson.

 

[signbabybrady]

Rant & alternate reality ok; there are a lot of disturbed opinions here sometimes & they add flavor ….but the repetition & and the infuriated bulldog (never-let-go) hatred of particular coaches /schemes was a bit much.

A lot of that going around these days

 

[Love The Drake]

It’s hard to say maybe Vrab felt to change the culture and memories of yesteryears had to remove all the captains.

Or it could simply be a scheme fit, which is different then what we are used to to. Cause it used to be that we would find the persons strengths and put them in a a position to use though and find where they can help and scheme to cover their weaknesses.

I think this team is saying this is the skills we are looking for this is how we want to play and it’s a little different but not necessarily a bad thing.

Seeing Hollins leadership for instance you couldn’t leave him off the 53 over a guy like Baker.

And maybe Bourne was too jovial and happy go lucky for Vrabs alpha mentality he’s trying to Instill.

Or maybe it’s all about money who knows.

 

[mgteich]

Like some have already speculated, they seemed to have wanted to keep only one between Peppers and Dugger. We now know that they tried to trade both but. They clearly wanted to keep Peppers over Dugger since they tried to trade Dugger first. Since they failed to trade both they decided to cut the easiest salary wise.

If they really preferred to keep peppers, they would have.

Perhaps they thought they would get a good pick for him or even a good trade of any kind.

 

[Real fan 02]

Me too!

 

[Hammer of Thor]

Who knows, but Peppers never lived up to his 1st round billing. BB had resurrected him to a playable option, and he did bring the heat a few times that roused the D. But, he has never been very consistent. Dugger can also provide that occasional helmet-popping tackle or game changing INT. And, I think after Peppers legal issues, Vrabel didn't want him voted as a captain.

And don't forget about Pettus - a bit of a surprise to make the 53, but now I see why. He has some violence and fire at Safety, and could battle Dugger for snaps in the #3 role.
But ultimately, we're praying Woodson turns into Rod Woodson.

That’s a good point. Peppers was another of Belichick’s reclamation projects; there is a reason he was available, he was traded from Cleveland and washed out from the Giants. Belichick found a role he could do well, and Peppers thrived in it. But like Patrick Chung (and Kyle Dugger), playing a different role at safety, they weren’t as good, or even weren’t good at all.

Now that brings up a couple of questions —

1) Does no one else in the NFL have safeties play in that manner, such that they weren’t willing to trade for him? Let’s make no mistake about it, Peppers IS good at what he does, and his salary is very reasonable, unlike Dugger. Was no one really interested in trading for him?

2) Is scheme so important that they should throw away good players; can’t the coaches adjust for this? We know Belichick threw out some useful players his first couple of years here. But we also know he preferred a 34 to a 43, but didn’t force that until 2002 when he had players he felt could do that. Maybe this is the current coaching staff’s balance, by keeping one of Dugger and Peppers but not both. But we’ve got to be careful here. We knew Parcells was a ground and pound guy, but saw what he had in Bledsoe and said screw that, let’s take advantage of what he can do. The coaching staff needs to balance that flexibility.

Let’s hope they’ve made the right decisions and are striking the right balance here.

 

[Grogan14]

That’s a good point. Peppers was another of Belichick’s reclamation projects; there is a reason he was available, he was traded from Cleveland and washed out from the Giants. Belichick found a role he could do well, and Peppers thrived in it. But like Patrick Chung (and Kyle Dugger), playing a different role at safety, they weren’t as good, or even weren’t good at all.

Now that brings up a couple of questions —

1) Does no one else in the NFL have safeties play in that manner, such that they weren’t willing to trade for him? Let’s make no mistake about it, Peppers IS good at what he does, and his salary is very reasonable, unlike Dugger. Was no one really interested in trading for him?

2) Is scheme so important that they should throw away good players; can’t the coaches adjust for this? We know Belichick threw out some useful players his first couple of years here. But we also know he preferred a 34 to a 43, but didn’t force that until 2002 when he had players he felt could do that. Maybe this is the current coaching staff’s balance, by keeping one of Dugger and Peppers but not both. But we’ve got to be careful here. We knew Parcells was a ground and pound guy, but saw what he had in Bledsoe and said screw that, let’s take advantage of what he can do. The coaching staff needs to balance that flexibility.

Let’s hope they’ve made the right decisions and are striking the right

Perhaps this is a signal that Vrabel is prioritizing the rebuild over wins this year.
Not saying they are tanking but maybe they are focused on incremental yearly improvement over making the playoffs this year.
Replacing Peppers roster spot with a developmental PS player like Gregory means the focus for wins is more on 26 and 27 than this year

 

[Wozzy]

Players get injured Woozy I don't like the move: Peppers is a very good player. Do we have a replacement of his caliber on the Roster?? I don't think so and neither should you.

Dugger will be fine assuming health.

 

[Ross12]

I think it comes down to:

1. Peppers and Dugger are both former starters who play a similar style
2. Both of them had been passed on the depth chart by other safeties, partially due to scheme
3. Dugger was more open to being a depth option, because he has been before in his career
4. Peppers was not as open to being a depth piece/non-starter
5. Dugger & Peppers were somewhat redundant in the scheme, Vrabel did not see need to have 2 such players as backups
6. The team tried to trade both and see how it shook out, found success with neither
7. After a couple days, Vrabel ultimately let Peppers walk instead of forcing him into a situation he was unhappy with

 

[Hyped]

Did his wife have her own account here?

This happened on another board in a galaxy far far away….

And we felt that it wasn’t even his wife, LOL.

 

[Hyped]

A scheme issue but more talent than some who stayed. Internal uncertainty could explain the timing. A little curious that they kept Dugger who also doesn’t fit.

Dugger’s $$$ > Pepper’s

There you go…. Had they traded Dugger and had some other team eat some of his salary…we might have stuck with Peppers.

Either way….it shows that we likely hit on Craig Woodson…..hmmmm…

 

[maust]

Either way….it shows that we likely hit on Craig Woodson…..hmmmm…

Well, it at least shows Vrabel & Co believe they hit on Woodson. I'm inclined to side with them but the me part of 'we' part is awaiting some substantive on field proof before fully buying in. I remain on the hopeful side vs being skeptical. I'd like to think the D around him will give Woodson time to find his footing but for all we know he may not need it. I do know I'm looking forward to seeing this full defensive unit get after it

 

[Real fan 02]

I think it comes down to:

1. Peppers and Dugger are both former starters who play a similar style
2. Both of them had been passed on the depth chart by other safeties, partially due to scheme
3. Dugger was more open to being a depth option, because he has been before in his career
4. Peppers was not as open to being a depth piece/non-starter
5. Dugger & Peppers were somewhat redundant in the scheme, Vrabel did not see need to have 2 such players as backups
6. The team tried to trade both and see how it shook out, found success with neither
7. After a couple days, Vrabel ultimately let Peppers walk instead of forcing him into a situation he was unhappy with

Ross,

You hit the nail on the head. That's probably the most accurate account or scenario that likely transpired. As others have posted.. Vrabel and Williams feel they hit with Woodson. On the other safeties Pettus and Hawkins.. Pettus feels like a thumper and a guy who loves to be physical. Hawkins I equate him to someone like Kevin byard.. who before Vrabel took over in Tennessee byard was meh.. He became an all pro under Vrabel.

I still feel we see alot of Dugger, Woodson and Hawkins on the feild together alot.

 

[Real fan 02]

Perhaps this is a signal that Vrabel is prioritizing the rebuild over wins this year.
Not saying they are tanking but maybe they are focused on incremental yearly improvement over making the playoffs this year.
Replacing Peppers roster spot with a developmental PS player like Gregory means the focus for wins is more on 26 and 27 than this year

Peppers was a first round pick and had first round talent.. he had the knee injury. Peppers then got injured again and he was recovering when we signed him.

He then became a prominent play for us and was a tone setter. @Ross12 summed it up perfectly with his post on Peppers. Hawkins, Woodson fit more into what Vrabel and Williams want the safety to handle in the defense. Remember Kevin Byrard?? He credited Vrabel with him becoming an all pro.

 

[javajunky]

I think the big nickel isn't needed when you have fast linebackers.

 

[Huckleberry1]

Remember when NEM got banned for a while, and he tried to post and claimed he was French?

He was outed when he used the word “ventilateur” when he said he was a “fan”?

Lmfao

 

[Huckleberry1]

Well, it at least shows Vrabel & Co believe they hit on Woodson. I'm inclined to side with them but the me part of 'we' part is awaiting some substantive on field proof before fully buying in. I remain on the hopeful side vs being skeptical. I'd like to think the D around him will give Woodson time to find his footing but for all we know he may not need it. I do know I'm looking forward to seeing this full defensive unit get after it

I think they hit on Woodson. Really smart physical football player. He’ll have a learning curve but that’s a big part of what this season is going to be about.

 

[n1997y]

Rant & alternate reality ok; there are a lot of disturbed opinions here sometimes & they add flavor ….but the repetition & and the infuriated bulldog (never-let-go) hatred of particular coaches /schemes was a bit much.

Yeah. That gets old fast no matter who does it.

 

[Ross12]

Ross,

You hit the nail on the head. That's probably the most accurate account or scenario that likely transpired. As others have posted.. Vrabel and Williams feel they hit with Woodson. On the other safeties Pettus and Hawkins.. Pettus feels like a thumper and a guy who loves to be physical. Hawkins I equate him to someone like Kevin byard.. who before Vrabel took over in Tennessee byard was meh.. He became an all pro under Vrabel.

I still feel we see alot of Dugger, Woodson and Hawkins on the feild together alot.

Thank you for adding in to my post - I should have mentioned Pettus as well, I think he is part of the equation.

 

[DoubleDeluxe]

Me too!