With trade rumors running amuck ahead of Tuesday's deadline, several Patriots players continue to find themselves amid a lot of speculation. While some of the names circulating make sense, given that they haven't been that impactful this season, like receivers K.J. Osborn and Tyquan Thornton, others making the rounds drew more concerns than excitement about what the new regime might be planning.
One of the more prominent names in the rumors is safety Kyle Dugger, who has been a star on the rise since the Patriots drafted him in 2020. He has worked his way to becoming a captain of the defense and one of the best safeties of the last few years, prompting plenty of trade interest from the rest of the league.
He became even more crucial to the team's secondary success this season when Jabrill Peppers was sidelined from being placed on the Commissioner's Exempt List earlier this year, putting Dugger in an even more prominent role moving forward.
That's partially what made his involvement in trade speculation far more confusing. Although the Patriots could probably get a decent return for him, which is what most believe is their leading motivating factor to get some more trades done before the deadline, it would be a massive mistake to move on from Dugger so soon.
Fortunately, Jerod Mayo seemed to shut down the recent rumors before Sunday's matchup with the Titans, as he appeared to imply the Dugger rumors, among others, are blatantly false.
Question (via @ScottZolak on @985TheSportsHub ): You hear stuff – Dugger’s getting traded. Gonzalez, people are calling off the hook for him. Jonathan Jones. What are your thoughts on external noise, seeing those [trade deadline] reports that aren’t really substantiated by the…
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) November 3, 2024
Dugger's availability was further confirmed by Patriots reporters Mike Giardi and Phil Perry, both citing sources have told them the safety is not being traded this season, especially since he received an extension this past offseason.
It's certainly a positive sign about what is going on behind closed doors before Tuesday's deadline since plenty of names have come up over the past week that should not be considered tradeable for a team in the Patriots' position.
Time will tell if Mayo is being truthful and the hope is that he is.