Overview

• ESPN’s Adam Schefter first reported the release, which comes less than a week before the season opener.
• The move creates about $2.45 million in cap space with roughly $4 million in dead money, and Peppers had $4.32 million guaranteed for 2025.
• Jaylinn Hawkins and rookie Craig Woodson now profile as the top safeties, with Kyle Dugger and Dell Pettus in reserve and Brenden Schooler on special teams.
• Insiders noted Peppers’ hard-hitting, box-safety skill set did not align cleanly with the approach under Vrabel and defensive coordinator Terrell Williams.
• Peppers started 26 of 38 games for New England with 178 tackles, and his 2024 season was disrupted by an arrest that led to time on the commissioner’s exempt list before a guilty plea to drug possession and acquittals on other charges.