Steelers Make Significant Changes to New Safety’s Contract
Steelers safety DeShon Elliott suffered a severe knee injury during the second half of Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers. According to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, Elliott is being placed on injured reserve. He’ll miss a minimum of four games. However, he’ll likely be out for the majority of this season. On Tuesday, the Steelers made a trade with the New England Patriots. The Steelers gave up a sixth-round draft pick in exchange for safety Kyle Dugger and a seventh-round draft pick.
Before the 2024 season, Dugger inked a four-year, $58 million contract extension with the Patriots. Even though Dugger was originally under contract with the Patriots through 2027, he was able to easily get out of his contract with them. Ian Rapoport reported, “The Patriots are paying most of $5.4M that’s left of Kyle Dugger’s original base of $9.75M, plus $1M in per-game roster bonuses, to complete the deal.” He added, “The final two contract years have been wiped out.” After this season, Dugger will be a free agent. The trade is a low-risk, high-reward move for the Steelers. The former Patriot joins safety Jabrill Peppers, his former Patriots teammate. The Steelers signed Peppers to a one-year contract in September. Support from Peppers will help Dugger quickly integrate into Pittsburgh’s defense.
Dugger was chosen by the Patriots in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft. In 2024, he played in 13 games, starting in all of them. Dugger finished the season with 81 combined tackles, four passes defensed, one forced fumble, and one sack. Throughout his NFL career, Dugger has amassed 441 combined tackles, 24 passes defensed, nine interceptions, three forced fumbles, and three defensive touchdowns. He played college football for the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears. Dugger was named the South Atlantic Conference Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2015. In 2019, Dugger received the Cliff Harris Award. The award is given to the best small-school defensive player. Throughout his collegiate career, he had 237 combined tackles, 10 interceptions, 36 passes defended, six forced fumbles, and six fumble recoveries. Dugger is also Lenoir-Rhyne’s all-time leader in punt-return yardage with 929 yards.
