5 Patriots Still on Thin Ice After Surviving the Trade Deadline

5. Kyle Dugger

When Devin McCourty announced his retirement this offseason, Patriots fans turned to Kyle Dugger as the team's top safety.

There was plenty of reasons to believe in the 27-year-old's abilities following last year's performance. Dugger finished the 2022 campaign with a 69.1% completion rate and 95.2 passer rate when targeted, also recording eight broken-up passes and an NFL-leading two pick-sixes along the way.

Fast forward to 2023 and Dugger hasn't been as nearly effective. QBs are completing a whopping 81.5% of passes with a 93.7 passer rate when targeting him. He's also given up the third-most yards after the catch on the Patriots (84) while ranking sixth-worst on the team with a 51.5 PFF pass coverage grade.

Even with Belichick openly wanting to keep Dugger around for the long term, I wouldn't hold my breath. The defensive playmaker is also a free agent at the end of the year and it's not like Belichick is guaranteed to be around this offseason to re-sign him if the Patriots' freefall continues.

At the end of the day, Dugger is better than this season's play implies and I hope he gets back on track sooner rather than later. Otherwise, Pats fans might need to get used to seeing him in different colors next year.

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