Re-signing Jabrill Peppers named Patriots’ top under-the-radar free agency move

New England kept Peppers on a two-year, $9 million contract.

The New England Patriots were able to re-sign 11 of their unrestricted free agents this offseason, with safety Jabrill Peppers among them. The 27-year-old was retained on a two-year, $9 million pactt.

According to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, keeping Peppers has been the Patriots’ top under-the-radar move in free agency:

Peppers, who is 5-foot-11 and 215 pounds and entered the NFL as a first-round draft choice in 2017, came back from a ruptured right ACL last season and gradually saw his role increase. He brings a physical edge to the defense, with retired safety Devin McCourty identifying him as a key part of the team’s plans.

A former first-round draft pick, Peppers arrived in New England last offseason on a one-year deal. He ended up seeing action in all 17 of New England’s games, playing 35.2 percent of defensive snaps.

Serving as a box safety/linebacker hybrid, he was the fourth member in the Patriots’ safety rotation behind Devin McCourty, Kyle Dugger and Adrian Phillips. With McCourty retired the expectation is that Peppers will play a more prominent role moving forward.