Nine teams made a move ahead of the NFL franchise tag deadline on Tuesday, and the New England Patriots were among them. As opposed to the other eight clubs, however, they decided to not to use the franchise tag to keep one of their players from entering free agency next week.
Instead, the Patriots went with the seldom-used transition tag to keep safety Kyle Dugger under contract for the 2024 season. The tag will pay Dugger a fully-guaranteed $13.82 million this year, unless he and the organization agree on a contract extension.
The transition tag may be cheaper than its franchise equivalent, but is less popular with teams due to the fact that it only features the right of first refusal.