The New England Patriots pulled a surprise out of their hat on Friday, releasing safety Jabrill Peppers after three seasons. Seemingly locked into a starting spot all summer and a member of the team’s initial 53-man roster, the 29-year-old now finds himself cut for the first time in his nine-year NFL career.

Given Peppers’ history with the team and seemingly high value to the operation, the move is a big one for the Patriots. Let’s zoom out a bit and see what it means from a big-picture perspective.

With Peppers no longer part of the equation, the Patriots’ safety group is down to five players. The top options among them project to be Jaylinn Hawkins and Craig Woodson, who both climbed up the depth chart over the course of the summer.

Hawkins originally joined the team last year as a free agency pickup, and was re-signed to a new one-year, $1.8 million contract this offseason. Woodson, meanwhile, was selected 106th overall by the club in the fourth round of this year’s draft. Unlike Peppers, who effectively was inherited from the previous regime — more on that in a second — the two were actively made a part of their vision by head coach Mike Vrabel and defensive coordinator Terrell Williams.

As such, they seemingly emerged as better fits for what Vrabel and Williams want their safeties to do. What is that? Operate in space and cover ground in the passing game, something both have shown themselves capable of doing.

Peppers’ strengths, meanwhile, lie in the box rather than the open field. There still appeared to be a spot for him on the team to fill this role, but apparently the new brass had reached a different conclusion.

If you had to guess a week ago which one of Peppers or Kyle Dugger would be on the roster come Aug. 29, you probably would have said the former no questions asked. However, Dugger remains left standing on the Patriots’ 53-man team as.

That does not mean his job is secure, though. For starters, the team did actively and ultimately unsuccessfully shop him before the league’s roster cutdown deadline on Tuesday.

Still, for the time being, Dugger projects as one of the depth options behind the aforementioned Jaylinn Hawkins and Craig Woodson. He, second-year man Dell Pettus and core special teamer Brenden Schooler round out a room that suddenly looks a lot shallower than it did at the start of training camp.

Less than one year after he was first named a captain for the team, Peppers has now been cut. He is in good company: the Patriots’ original group of captains from a year ago is now officially entirely off the roster.

Peppers was the last man standing from a sextet that also featured quarterback Jacoby Brissett, center David Andrews, defensive lineman Deatrich Wise Jr., linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley, and long snapper Joe Cardona. Brissett and Wise Jr. were not retained in free agency, while Andrews, Bentley and Cardona were all released as well.

Rebuilding the culture at One Patriot Place was one of head coach Mike Vrabel’s big goals for this offseason, and Peppers was one of the few leaders remaining from past teams. He and the leadership he provided are now out the door, taking the same path as other longtime cornerstones.

Following Bill Belichick’s departure as an omnipresent figure atop their football operations, the Patriots proudly re-branded themselves as a “draft and develop” organization under new executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf. They quickly went to work, too, handing out extensions to several starters or other key players.

In total, 11 such extensions were signed, including a three-year, $25 million by Peppers that ran through 2027. A year later, he is no longer with the team — a distinction he shares with three other recipients of those new deals: Davon Godchaux (2/$18M) was traded this offseason while David Andrews (1/$6.5M) and Kendrick Bourne (3/$19.5M) were both cut.

Meanwhile, the team has also tried to rid itself of Kyle Dugger (4/$58M) and Anfernee Jennings (3/$12M), even though both remain with the club after no trade partners were found.

Also on the 53-man team at the moment are Rhamondre Stevenson (4/$36M), Hunter Henry (3/$27M), Mike Onwenu (3/$57M) and Christian Barmore (4/$84M). Jahlani Tavai (3/$16M) is on injured reserve but was designated for return.

Speaking of contract numbers, releasing Peppers does have a net positive impact on New England’s salary cap this year and in the future. As broken down by cap expert Miguel Benzan, the move creates cap savings of $1.46 million in 2025 plus another $5.25 million in 2026 and $8.25 million in 2027.

However, it also comes with an increased dead money charge the next two years. Peppers will still be on the Patriots’ books for $4.16 million this year — a combination of his fully-guaranteed salary, signing bonus proration and offseason workout bonus — as well as $3 million in 2026.

The Patriots releasing a starting safety who also served as a captain in the past shortly before their season opener? Well, if that sounds familiar it’s because it is: back in 2003, the team — which featured then-linebacker Mike Vrabel — made a similar move to part ways with longtime defensive leader Lawyer Milloy.

Now just wait for Peppers to sign with the Las Vegas Raiders, and for some analysts to start speculating about locker room turmoil caused by the move.

The bottom line of the Patriots releasing Peppers was this: the move created an open spot on their 53-man roster. That spot very much was needed given that the team had successfully submitted another waiver claim to bring defensive tackle Eric Gregory on board after he was cut by the Cincinnati Bengals; Gregory is the third player added by New England off waivers this week joining quarterback Tommy DeVito and cornerback Charles Woods.

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