The Patriots are re-signing safety Kyle Dugger to a four-year contract, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Sunday. Winslow Townson/Associated Press

The Patriots are re-signing safety Kyle Dugger to a four-year contract, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Sunday.

The new deal is worth a base salary of $58 million, which includes $32.5 million in guarantees, and has a maximum value of $66 million, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because terms have not been announced. The deal was first reported by NFL Network.

Dugger started all 17 games last season and led the Patriots with 71 solo tackles and two interceptions. The 28-year-old has totaled nine interceptions and 343 combined tackles over the past four seasons since being drafted in the second round out of Lenoir-Rhyne in 2020.

The Patriots originally used the one-year transition tag on Dugger. They had until July 17 to reach a long-term deal with him, or he would have made the average of the top 10 salaries at his position next season, which would have been around $14 million.

Instead, the Patriots will not only keep one of their biggest offseason priorities on the roster, but they have secured him for multiple seasons as new coach Jerod Mayo leads New England’s rebuild.