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Mike Reiss
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Mike Reiss
ESPN Staff Writer
- Mike Reiss is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the New England Patriots. Reiss has covered the Patriots since 1997 and joined ESPN in 2009. In 2019, he was named Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association.
The New England Patriots traded away two former defensive starters Tuesday night, sending defensive end Keion White to the San Francisco 49ers and safety Kyle Dugger to the Pittsburgh Steelers, sources told ESPN.
The Pats acquired a 2026 sixth-round pick from the Niners in exchange for White and a 2026 seventh-round pick, according to sources.
They acquired a 2026 sixth-round pick from the Steelers, who received Dugger and a 2026 seventh-round pick, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The Patriots will help cover part of Dugger’s remaining salary, which amounts to $9.75 million, according to sources.
White and Dugger were starters under the former Patriots regimes led by Bill Belichick and Jerod Mayo but had been backups under first-year coach Mike Vrabel.
White was a 2023 second-round draft pick under Belichick who totaled five sacks in his second season. His addition comes at a critical time for the Niners, who have seen their group of defensive ends dwindle by the week because of injuries. The biggest loss came in Week 3 when star end Nick Bosa was lost for the season with a torn right ACL.
The Niners left Sunday’s loss to the Houston Texans with ends Bryce Huff (hamstring), Yetur Gross-Matos (hamstring) and Sam Okuayinonu (ankle) dealing with injuries that either prevented them from playing in that game or were suffered during it.
Although Huff and Gross-Matos are expected back soon and Okuayinonu is day-to-day this week, the 49ers clearly needed help at the position following their struggles generating any pass rush against Houston. For the season, the Niners rank last in the NFL in pressure percentage (21.3%) and 25th in pass-rush win rate (33.8%).
In White, the Niners are taking a flier on a once-promising prospect who fell out of favor in New England as his fit in Vrabel’s scheme wasn’t as clear. He was a healthy scratch in the Patriots’ win against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday and played in just 26% of the defensive snaps this season with six tackles and one pressure.
White was selected by New England in the second round of the 2023 NFL draft, the final draft with Belichick as coach. He played in 16 games as a rookie, with four starts, totaling 26 tackles, 1 sack, 5 quarterback hits and 2 pass breakups.
When Mayo, a former Belichick assistant, took over as head coach in 2024, White’s role expanded as he played in every game (13 starts) and amassed 56 tackles, 5 sacks, 16 quarterback hits, 5 pass breakups and 2 forced fumbles.
White has one year remaining on his rookie deal at a base salary of $1.812 million for 2026.
Given the injuries on the roster, the Niners might not be done making trades, with more help for the defensive line still possible as they await the returns of Huff, Gross-Matos and Okuayinonu.
Dugger signed a four-year, $58 million contract as a free agent last year after initially being assigned the transition tag by the team. A second-round pick in 2020, he has started 69 games, including four this season, and totaled nine interceptions.
The Steelers added Dugger in large part because starting strong safety DeShon Elliott hyperextended his knee in their loss to the Packers on Sunday night. Elliott was a hub of communication in the secondary and was a physical presence in the run game.
“He’s a significant component of what we do, particularly relative to some of the things that Indy does well,” coach Mike Tomlin said of Elliott on Tuesday. “He is a central figure in our secondary in terms of run defense for example. He covers tight ends oftentimes in passing circumstances and so certainly we have some adapting to do in terms of how we divide the labor up this week, but that’s always the case when you lose someone, particularly someone significant, it’s not a one-person job, it’s a multi-person job.”
Without Elliott, the Steelers struggled to slow tight end Tucker Kraft using safety Chuck Clark, and they have an equally difficult task in Week 9 against the Colts and rookie Tyler Warren.
Elliott missed time with a different knee injury earlier this season, and the Steelers helped replace him by signing former Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers.
ESPN’s Brooke Pryor contributed to this report.
