Image courtesy of New England Patriots

The first major move in the Jerod Mayo/Eliot Wolf era has been made.

With the NFL franchise tag deadline at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Jeremy Fowler first reported the Patriots used the ‘transition tag’ on safety Kyle Dugger at about 2:15.

With the transition tag, Dugger is guaranteed to make at least $13.8 million in 2024, but the Patriots have the right to match any contract offers Dugger receives. If they do not, then they wouldn’t receive draft compensation for losing him.

This also means the team can’t use the franchise tag (teams are only allowed one ‘tag’ per offseason), which results in Mike Onwenu becoming a free agent if he and the Patriots can’t reach a deal before Monday.

You can argue that the tag should have gone to Onwenu, given the uncertainty on offense right now. Onwenu has shown his versatility and ability to be a dominant player in the league, that stability would be nice to have no matter who the quarterback is.

With Onwenu representing himself, there’s a chance he simply told the Krafts not to waste it on him and that he’d be willing to discuss in good faith, hopefully leading to a contract. Although, it becomes much, much harder to sign him once other teams start throwing money around.

We shouldn’t diminish Dugger’s impact here either. Guys like Dugger, Peppers, Judon, Wise and Barmore have been through a lot the last few years, so as the team tries to get younger while maintaining a winning culture, that leadership is extremely valuable, especially with Matt Slater out the door and David Andrews’ time winding down. Dugger’s also one of the most physical guys on the roster (maybe just behind Peppers) and he’s probably one of the more physical safeties in the league these days. He may not be one of the best cover guys, but the physicality and instinctual play he brings in the run game isn’t for everyone.

If Dugger does end up getting an offer and the Pats don’t match, there better be a plan in place for replacing him. Both Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams were released by the Seahawks on Tuesday, so perhaps another veteran free agent would be the answer. There’s quite a bit of athleticism in the upcoming draft at the position too, but it’s tough to throw a rookie back there immediately.

With the dominos starting to fall across the league heading into the official start of free agency next week, this is just the beginning of what will be a fascinating offseason for the Patriots.