The New England Patriots continued their spree of in-house signings on Friday by agreeing to a three-year extension with safety Jabrill Peppers, per ESPN’s Field Yates.
According to Yates, the deal has a base value of $24 million and is worth up to $30 million.
This was a strong move for the Patriots considering Peppers was one of the team’s best players last season. An argument could easily be made that he was the team’s defensive MVP with 78 tackles, eight pass deflections, two interceptions and one fumble recovery.
The Patriots extended Kyle Dugger back in April, and now with Peppers under contract, they have ensured their core defensive backfield remains intact for the foreseeable future.
Jabrill Peppers and Jahlani Tavai team up for a crazy INT 😱
📺: #NEvsLV on CBS
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/B4mQvLOt8O pic.twitter.com/vHQjDgCxEv— NFL (@NFL) October 15, 2023
Peppers is a player who would have had plenty of offers on the free agent market. The price could have been even higher if he put together another stellar season, and the Patriots might have been pulled into a bidding war for his services.
However, they avoided all of that by locking in a deal early.
The Patriots have now extended Peppers, Dugger, Christian Barmore, Anfernee Jennings, Mike Onwenu, Rhamondre Stevenson and Hunter Henry to long-term deals. Lead personnel executive Eliot Wolf is using some of the millions in available cap space to reward the best players on the roster.
The new deal with the Patriots makes Peppers one of the top-15 highest-paid safeties in the league, averaging around $8 million annually. It’s a win-win for both sides.
Peppers gets the biggest contract of his NFL career, and the Patriots keep one of the best defensive backfields in the league intact. It’s another home run hit for Wolf.
