The Patriots had been shopping both White and Dugger ahead of the looming Nov. 4 deadline.
White’s future seemed in doubt after he was a healthy scratch for Sunday’s win over the Browns. The 26-year-old missed New England’s win at New Orleans in Week 6 with an elbow injury, but returned to practice as a full participant in Week 7 and was not listed on the injury report headed into Week 8.
Dugger, meanwhile, had been on the block since training camp, when he was demoted to a reserve role. Since the regular season began, he only played significant snaps when starting safety Jaylinn Hawkins missed games against the Saints and Titans with a hamstring injury.
Teams had been hesitant to take on Dugger’s contract — he has a $15.3 million cap anthem in 2025 and $17 million in 2026 — but the Steelers needed bodies to reinforce their secondary. The team placed veteran safety DeShon Elliott on injured reserve Tuesday with a knee injury. Dugger will reunite with safety Jabrill Peppers, whom the Patriots released in August.
The trades are the up-to-date efforts by coach Mike Vrabel and his revamped front office to turn over the roster. Only 22 players on New England’s 53-man roster were with the organization last season.
Dugger, drafted in the second round out of Lenoir-Rhyne in 2020, had been the Patriots’ longest tenured player. He previously was a captain, and up until this season had served as a dependable starter. Dugger played a team-high 98 percent of the defense’s snaps as recently as the 2023 season.
White, drafted in the second round out of Georgia Tech in 2023, once seemed on track to become an organizational building block. He showed tremendous promise as a rookie pass rusher with his physicality and aggressiveness, but his career never took off in the way the Patriots expected.
Last season, teammates implicitly called out White for playing selfishly. By the end of the year, White became critical of the coaching staff.
After the Patriots hired Vrabel, White’s third coach in as many seasons, the hope was for him to take advantage of a fresh start. White, however, never managed to earn a consistent role and remained buried on the depth chart behind Harold Landry and K’Lavon Chaisson.
Even in Week 5 against the Bills, when he started in place of the injured Chaisson, White did not have an impact as a pass rusher. According to Pro Football Focus, White has logged just three pressures in 76 pass-rush snaps this season. A pressure rate of 4 percent is underwhelming for a young player who previously flashed so much promise and potential.
White was under contract through 2026. Dugger, who signed a four-year, $58 million contract last April, was under contract through 2027.
Without Dugger, the Patriots will continue to lean on their starting safety tandem of Hawkins and rookie Craig Woodson. Dell Pettus and Brenden Schooler (a core special teamer) are the two other safeties on the 53-man roster.
Without White, Anfernee Jennings and undrafted rookie Elijah Ponder will round out the depth chart on the edge. The Patriots also could also strike another trade to improve the position.
The moves leave two open spots on their roster. Running back Terrell Jennings, currently on the practice squad, is a candidate to fill one because the team has used his maximum number of game day elevations.
Nicole Yang can be reached at nicole.yang@globe.com.Follow her @nicolecyang.
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