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Patriots' Mike Vrabel Responds After Jabrill Peppers Questions Rationale for Release

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Sean Deveney | Last updated Sep 1, 2025 9:29 PM ET

It was a shocking move, the way the Patriots abrputly axed veteran safety Jabrill Peppers, cutting him after the inital wave of roster moves on Tuesday. Peppers ranked as one of the top safeties in footbal last season, earning a Pro Football Focus grade of 82.3, which ranked seventh out of 171 at the position.

In the wake of Peppers being cut, the word that team insiders leaked from Patriots Place was that Peppers was not a good "scheme" fit in New England, that coach Mike Vrabel wants good cover men and not necessarily downhill tacklers like Peppers.

Jabrill Peppers: 'There Is No Scheme' He Can't Play In

Peppers himself seemed taken aback by the number of times it was implied he could not fit in Vrabel's scheme.

On Twitter/X, he wrote, "Going on 9 years in this league. I’ve had 7 HCs & 6 DCs lol There is no scheme you can place me in where I won’t find a way to be effective."

Going on 9 years in this league. I’ve had 7 HCs & 6 DCs lol There is no scheme you can place me in where I won’t find a way to be effective.
— JP5 (@JabrillPeppers) September 1, 2025

Peppers struggled with injuries last season and has played 21 games in the past two years, but has allowed a passer rating of just 66.5 when the ball is throw his way. Perhaps it was injuries and age (Peppers turns 30 next month), but the release remains confusing.

How Did Patriots' Vrabel Explain Cut?

On Monday, Vrabel was asked for his rationale in letting Peppers walk. And he did nto exactly clear things up.

"I've got a lot of respect for Jabrill as a person and as a player, and what we felt like was in the best interest of the team at this point was allowing him to have another opportunity elsewhere," Vrabel said. "There's a lot of things that go into these decisions and they're never easy, and we're just trying to get it right collectively."

Vrabel was asked directly about Peppers being a poor scheme fit and he, too, denied that was the case.

"I don't think – that was certainly not the issue," he said. "There's a lot of reasons. I wouldn't say that that's – we're going to try to do what's best for the team. We've got a lot of different schemes that we can run in all three phases, special teams, offense and defense."

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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