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nick wagner
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nick wagner
espn staff writer
- Nick Wagner is an NFL reporter at ESPN. Nick has covered the San Francisco 49ers since 2016, having previously covered the St. Louis Rams for 12 years, including three years at ESPN (2013 to 2015). In more than a decade with the company, Nick has led ESPN’s coverage of the Niners’ 2019 and 2023 Super Bowl runs, the Colin Kaepernick protests, the Rams making Michael Sam the first openly gay player drafted into the NFL, Sam’s pursuit of a roster spot and the team’s relocation and stadium saga.
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mike rees
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mike rees
espn staff writer
- Mike Reese is an NFL reporter for ESPN and covers the New England Patriots. Reese 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.
new England Patriots Two former defensive starters were benched Tuesday night and a defensive end was sent down keyon white till san francisco 49ers and safety kyle duggar till pittsburgh steelersSources told ESPN.
According to sources, the Pats acquired a 2026 sixth-round pick and a 2026 seventh-round pick from the Niners in exchange for White.
Sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that they received a 2026 sixth-round pick from the Steelers, who received Dugger, and a 2026 seventh-round pick. According to sources, the Patriots will help cover a portion of Dugger’s remaining salary, which is $9.75 million.
White and Dugger were starters under the former Patriots regime led by Bill Belichick and Jerrod Mayo, but were backups under first-year coach Mike Vrabel.
White was a 2023 second-round draft pick under Belichick, totaling 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 week after week due to injuries. The biggest loss came in week 3 when Star was eliminated. nick bossa He was out for the season with a torn right ACL.
The Niners shrugged off Sunday’s loss. houston texans with the end bryce huff (hamstring), Yetur Gross-Matos (Hamstring) and Sam Okuyinonu (ankle) have dealt with injuries that either prevent them from playing in that game or are injured during it.
Although Huff and Gross-Matos are expected back soon and Okuinonu is day-to-day this week, the 49ers clearly need help at the position after struggling to generate 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 flyer on a once-promising prospect who fell out of favor in New England because his fit in Vrabel’s scheme wasn’t as clear. He was a healthy scratch in the Patriots’ win against cleveland browns on Sunday and played only 26% of 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, including 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 earned 56 tackles, 5 sacks, 16 quarterback hits, 5 pass breakups, and 2 forced fumbles.
White has one year remaining on his rookie deal through 2026 at a base salary of $1.812 million.
Given the injuries on the roster, the Niners probably won’t be able to make a trade, with more help for the defensive line still possible as they await the return of Huff, Gross-Matos and Okuinonu.
Dugger signed a four-year, $58 million contract as a free agent last year after the team initially assigned him the transition tag. As a second-round pick in 2020, he has started 69 games, including four this season, and has nine interceptions overall.
The Steelers added Dugger in a big way as the starting strong safety. DeShon Elliott He aggravated his knee in Sunday night’s loss to the Packers. Elliott was the center of communication in the secondary and a physical presence in the run game.
“He’s a key component to what we do, especially with respect to some of the things Indy does well,” coach Mike Tomlin said of Elliott on Tuesday. “He’s a central guy in our secondary in terms of run defense, for example. He covers the tight end a lot of times in passing situations and so obviously we’ve had to make some adaptations this week in terms of dividing the labor, but it’s always the case when you lose somebody, especially a key guy, it’s not a one-man job, it’s a multi-man job.”
Without Elliott, Steelers struggle to slow down tight end tucker craft use security chuck clarkAnd they have an equally tough task against the Colts and rookies in Week 9 tyler warren,
Elliott missed time earlier this season with a separate knee injury, and the Steelers helped replace him by signing the former Patriots safety Jabril Chilli,
ESPN’s Brooke Pryor contributed to this report.
