INSIDER: Patriots Releasing Veteran Peppers
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With the New England Patriots just over a week away from their first regular season game, the team made a move on Friday that was fairly surprising.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the club is parting ways with safety Jabrill Peppers. The move comes just days after Peppers became a part of the first 53 man roster under new head coach, Mike Vrabel.
Peppers has been a leader in the locker room and someone who has brought plenty of energy to that side of the football. He finished last season with 39 tackles, including two tackles for a loss, an interception, two passes defended, and a forced fumble.
No reason was given for his release, although perhaps the club doesn’t view him in their long-term plans. It’s possible they’re opting to move on from him to give more snaps to someone like Dell Pettus, who also made the initial 53 and is coming off a pretty good rookie year. The team also held onto Kyle Dugger after coming up empty in trying to deal him.
Peppers came under fire last season following charges back in October of strangulation and drug possession. Team owner Robert Kraft already said back in October during an appearance on 105.1’s The Breakfast Club that “if what is reported is true, he’s gone.” That was certainly an eye-opening statement at the time. Still, Peppers did ultimately come off the commissioner’s exempt list late in the year and played 100%, and 99% of the snaps against both Indianapolis and Arizona late in the season before a hamstring injury ahead of Week 16 saw him sit out the remainder of the 2024 campaign. He was later acquitted in the jury trial back in January.
Since then, it had been all football and Peppers seemed to be in good spirits during training camp, with the veteran telling reporters back in July everyone, including himself, had bought in and was looking forward to getting started.
“We just buying in, getting to know each other, getting to see how he wants us to play, and then practicing to that,” said Peppers. “Everyone’s hungry, but right now it’s still too early. We’re in shorts and helmets right now. But it’s just the little things coming together, learning the system, building that condition, and things like that.”
For now, it’s definitely a surprising move for a defense that already has some questions heading into Week 1. Peppers also becomes yet another player who received an extension last offseason that won’t be a part of the club’s future under Vrabel.
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This makes no sense. Why Peppers, a leader on the defense? Why now? This decision seems very impulsive. If there was a valid reason to let go of Peppers, why not trade him for a player or a pick? We could speculate reasons but it just makes no sense to not have been strategic about this, gotten value in return and planned for his departure with a suitable replacement. BB cut people that crossed him, but when he cut Lawyer Milloy, we had already had his replacement in Rodney Harrison. Who replaces Peppers? Without knowing more, this does not seem… Read more »
Jack, your’re right, but there’s more to it than we know. I say that as the situation that Peppers made the 53, (he took up a valuable spot), and then subsequently gets cut, does indeed make zero sense. Peppers was on watch after his domestic violence incident (case thrown out of court), but he was found guilty of possession of cocaine. He’s also one of the few in the league that wear the over-padded large helmit in real games. So, that Peppers “wasn’t a fit in this D” is NOT reality as he’d have been gone cut down day. Something… Read more »
Phill Perry NBC Boston reported the rationale for Peppers cut was “he wasn’t a fit on the new defense”. That makes zero sense for one reason: as a veteran, the coaches know whom he is and what his strengths/weakness are, and they worked with him all summer. If he was not a fit, they know it and cut him a week ago. Not after they awarded him a spot on the 53!!! So something happened that was unacceptable, or he’s got some huge injury calamity. He wore the padded head gear the past year, perhaps concussion issues? The NFL is… Read more »