During any NFL offseason, it's expected that several teams will make some questionable decisions when assembling their initial 53-man roster for the upcoming season, some of which are bigger head-scratchers than others. The Patriots fell into that category this year with some of their cuts, with the latest being veteran safety Jabrill Peppers.
Given that he made the final roster and wasn't released until three days later, numerous questions have arisen regarding the team's decision to move on from him so abruptly. The immediate assumption was character issues, despite them not being a problem before; however, no reports have suggested that to be true.
Then there was his apparent fall down the depth chart, similar to that of Kyle Dugger, which might have also explained the release. That might have explained it, but Peppers seemed to have locked up a spot on the roster so much so that he didn't participate in two of the Patriots' three preseason games.
That brought up even more questions about what had happened and why they hadn't tried to trade him instead, as he was easily considered one of their more valuable assets. Apparently, according to the latest rumors, they did dangle him on the trade market, but never reached a deal.
Jabrill Peppers was also the subject of trade discussions before the Patriots eventually cut him
Because the unexpected release of Peppers has dominated headlines in New England over the past couple of days, ESPN's Mike Reiss, a longtime Patriots reporter, shared his thoughts and what he's heard about the situation in a post to his Twitter/X.
Interestingly, he noted that he was informed by a front-office source that Peppers was discussed in trade talks in the days leading to the roster cut deadline, just like Dugger, yet no deal was made for either safety.
"According to one front-office source from another team, Peppers' name was mentioned among those who the Patriots had discussed in trade talks."
Opinion/analysis: Q&A on the Patriots’ decision to release safety Jabrill Peppers, highlighting some of the dynamics in play. pic.twitter.com/NlXcBeTVJ2
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) August 30, 2025
It makes sense why some teams would be hesitant to trade for Dugger, due to his contract, but that cannot be said about Peppers, whose salary is beyond reasonable for any team to take on.
He has been one of the best starting safeties in the league over the last two years, which is partly why his release was immediately questioned; it also makes it unfathomable that no team was interested enough to make a trade offer that the Patriots would accept.
He will inevitably land somewhere else in the league and be a starter right away. It seems like a massive oversight by the Patriots' new regime not to have reached an agreement with an interested party to receive some sort of compensation for a good player.
Instead, they won't take on any dead cap this year, but will be on the hook for $4.16 million this year and $3 million in 2026. It would have been nice for them to avoid those payouts if possible by trading him, but clearly, that's not happening.