The words "culture shift" are thrown around often when a coach is hired to turn around a team that's had a few rough seasons, but they don't often entail a team trading away a player it recently signed to an extremely lucrative contract.
That might be the case in New England, though, as new Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel appears to be doing things his own way — including demoting safety Kyle Dugger to a backup and potentially not even factoring him into the team's plans.
Dugger signed a four-year, $58 million contract with the Patriots just last offseason and after just one year of that deal, he appears to be on the trade block. Dugger was playing with the second unit in the Patriots second preseason game and is now practicing with the scout team. That's not exactly what you want from a guy who just got a pretty considerable payday.
Dugger listed as starter, but might have lost his spot
On the Patriots unofficial depth chart, Dugger is listed as a starter alongside Jabrill Peppers — but that hasn't been the case in actuality, as Dugger has slowly fallen out of favor in the Pats new defensive system.
It's not like he was unplayable last season; Dugger didn't have an interception in 2024, but he did have 81 tackles, four passes defensed and eight tackles for loss. If he really is on the block, it shouldn't be hard for the Patriots to find a trade partner for him. Yes, the contract is big, but for a starting-caliber safety, teams will be willing to foot the bill. Call up Cleveland or Baltimore or Miami or Carolina and see what kind of draft capital they'd be willing to part with.
Mike Vrabel isn't in New England to make friends
He's there to win games! The Patriots have had three rough seasons (after about 50 great ones, to be fair) and Vrabel is there to re-establish winning as an expectation in New England. If the best way to do that is by benching high-paid players, than so be it. Guys clearly have to earn their keep under Vrabel, and that's how it should be.
Even in the Pats most recent preseason game, Vrabel obviously didn't like what he saw from his offense starters on the first drive of the game, so he sent them back out for another, made adjustments, and the adjustments resulted in a touchdown.
Mike Vrabel's teams in Tennessee had clear identities; if they weren't the most topheavy with talent, they'd grind you down with effort. Three straight playoff seasons looks more impressive when you look at the success (or lack of) that franchise has seen with any coach other than Vrabel in the past 20-plus years.