The New England Patriots traded away two former defensive starters Tuesday night time, sending defensive finish Keion White to the San Francisco 49ers and security Kyle Dugger to the Pittsburgh Steelers, sources informed ESPN.
The Pats acquired a 2026 sixth-round decide from the Niners in change for White and a 2026 seventh-round decide, in response to sources. They acquired a 2026 sixth-round decide from the Steelers, who acquired Dugger and a 2026 seventh-round decide, sources informed ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The Patriots will assist cowl a part of Dugger’s remaining wage, which quantities to $9.75 million, in response to sources.
White and Dugger had been starters underneath the previous Patriots regimes led by Invoice Belichick and Jerod Mayo however had been backups underneath first-year head coach Mike Vrabel.
White was a 2023 second-round draft decide underneath Belichick who totaled 5 sacks in his second season. His addition comes at a essential time for the Niners, who’ve seen their group of defensive ends dwindle by the week due to accidents. The most important loss got here in Week 3 when star finish Nick Bosa was misplaced for the season with a torn proper anterior cruciate ligament.
The Niners left Sunday’s loss to the Houston Texans with ends Bryce Huff (hamstring), Yetur Gross-Matos (hamstring) and Sam Okuayinonu (ankle) coping with accidents that both prevented them from taking part in in that recreation or had been suffered throughout it.
Though Huff and Gross-Matos are anticipated again quickly and Okuayinonu is day-to-day this week, the 49ers clearly wanted assist on the place following their struggles producing any cross rush towards Houston. For the season, the Niners rank final within the NFL in strain share (21.3%) and twenty fifth in pass-rush win price (33.8%).
In White, the Niners are taking a flier on a once-promising prospect who fell out of favor in New England as his slot in Vrabel’s scheme wasn’t as clear. He was a wholesome scratch within the Patriots’ win towards the Cleveland Browns on Sunday and performed in simply 26% of the defensive snaps this season with six tackles and one strain.
White was initially a second-round decide of New England’s within the 2023 NFL draft, the ultimate draft with Belichick as head coach. He performed in 16 video games as a rookie, with 4 begins, totaling 26 tackles, 1 sack, 5 quarterback hits and a pair of cross breakups.
When Mayo, a former Belichick assistant, took over as head coach in 2024, White’s position expanded as he performed in each recreation (13 begins) and amassed 56 tackles, 5 sacks, 16 quarterback hits, 5 cross breakups and a pair of compelled fumbles.
White has one yr remaining on his rookie deal at a base wage of $1.812 million for 2026. Given the accidents on the roster, the Niners may not be achieved making trades, with extra assist for the defensive position nonetheless a chance as they await the returns of Huff, Gross-Matos and Okuayinonu.
Dugger signed a four-year, $58 million contract as a free agent final yr after initially being assigned the transition tag by the crew. A second-round decide in 2020, he has began 69 video games, together with 4 this season, and totaled 9 interceptions.
The Steelers added Dugger largely as a result of beginning sturdy security DeShon Elliott hyperextended his knee within the loss to the Packers on Sunday night time. Elliott was a hub of communication within the secondary and was a bodily presence within the run recreation.
“He’s a major factor of what we do, significantly relative to a number of the issues that Indy does effectively,” Tomlin mentioned of Elliott on Tuesday. “He’s a central determine in our secondary by way of run protection for instance. He covers tight ends oftentimes in passing circumstances and so definitely we’ve some adapting to do by way of how we divide the labor up this week, however that’s at all times the case if you lose somebody, significantly somebody vital, it’s not a one-person job, it’s a multi-person job.”
With out Elliott, the Steelers struggled to sluggish tight finish Tucker Kraft utilizing security Chuck Clark, they usually have an equally troublesome process in Week 9 towards the Colts and rookie Tyler Warren.
Elliott missed time with a distinct knee harm earlier this season, and the Steelers helped substitute him by signing former Patriots security Jabrill Peppers.
ESPN’s Brooke Pryor contributed to this report.
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