{"id":176136,"date":"2026-04-25T23:35:40","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T23:35:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/176136\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T23:35:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T23:35:40","slug":"kyle-dugger-trade-results-steelers-use-2026-nfl-draft-pick-from-patriots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/176136\/","title":{"rendered":"Kyle Dugger trade results: Steelers use 2026 NFL Draft pick from Patriots"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The 2026 NFL Draft is here, where all the picks traded in the years leading up to it finally turn from numbers into actual football players. With that in mind, we\u2019ll be taking a look at what some of those trades look like now with the added context.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">This time, we\u2019ll be looking at the Steelers-Patriots trade from October 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Original terms of the Kyle Dugger trade between Steelers and Patriots<\/p>\n<p>What did the Steelers do with the pick from the Kyle Dugger trade?<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">With the eighth pick of the seventh round in the 2026 NFL Draft, the Steelers selected safety Robert Spears-Jennings.<\/p>\n<p>How was Kyle Dugger\u2019s performance for the Steelers in 2025? <\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The Steelers made a midseason trade for Dugger after starting strong safety DeShon Elliott suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 8. The trade was a low-stakes, Day 3 pick swap for Pittsburgh \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RapSheet\/status\/1983354679854596470?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1983354679854596470%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=safari-reader%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fnfl%2Fsteelers%2Fonsi%2Fnews%2Fpittsburgh-steelers-change-kyle-dugger-contract-trade\" rel=\"nofollow\">New England paid most of Dugger\u2019s remaining salary<\/a>, and the safety\u2019s contract was amended to allow him to hit free agency in 2026.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Through nine games with the Steelers in 2025, Dugger logged 42 total tackles, five passes defensed, two interceptions, and once sack. While he certainly made some plays, his fluidity still was clearly a notch below what it was at the beginning of his career.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Dugger was a strong run-defending force, but he was a contributor to some of the team\u2019s pass-coverage woes later in the season. However, for a cheap band-aid after the Steelers needed midseason secondary help, he filled the role respectably.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Dugger ended up signing with the Cincinnati Bengals during 2026 free agency on a one-year deal.<\/p>\n<p>What did the Patriots do with the picks from the Kyle Dugger trade?<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The Patriots used the sixth-round pick as part of the package to move up and select Illinois pass rusher Gabe Jacas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 NFL Draft is here, where all the picks traded in the years leading up to it&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":176137,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74,12641],"class_list":["post-176136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-pittsburgh-steelers-draft"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}