2024 Safety Free Agents...some I have noted or like...

tynimiller

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Everyone knows Safety is a massive gaping hole in our lineup. Here's a list of scheduled UFAs at the position that I've noted or would like IF at the right contract...plus the top end guys I don't think we will go after but who knows:

Old but maybe?
Micah Hyde 33yrs old
- reunion if price is low at his age maybe?
Jayron Kearse 30 yrs old - we are familiar with him having spent the last few years in Dallas and Detroit/Minnesota his career before that. *I really like him as an aged vet signing hoping to rebound with a good team...he's played high level ball before and struggled this season IMO - could be a lowcost signing.

Under 30 still with either high level play at times or still possibly ahead of them
*Chauncey Gardner Johnson 26 yrs old
- He's coming off signing a one year prove it deal with DET for $6.5M...he has played some high level safety over the years since being drafted by Saints and traded to Eagles then. He's started 44 out of 58 possible games he was active...12 INTs 245 tackles...but barely played this year for DET because of injury. If he keeps having a solid playoffs though for Detroit now that he is back and producing there is a chance Detroit may try to keep him through extending. If they don't this 7.86 RAS safety that is still young could be a guy Gute and co likes enough to sign....perhaps even not just a one year deal.
Darnell Savage 26 years old...I think in a best world Savage offers or agrees to come back sub-$3M a year on a prove it year...that's new money, he has void hits coming too anyways...3 would be like paying him $8.5 but if we don't sign him he still hits us with 5.5M void money.
Chuck Clark 29 yrs old - was a solid safety for the Ravens and then last year traded as a cap issue to the Jets...and tears his ACL before this season starts. With the injury a lot is going to depend on medicals, but he's likely going to be looking for a one year deal again with someone to prove health and hopefully get one more decent payday in his career...who better for him than a team threatening to be quite decent in 2024?
Taylor Rapp 26yrs old - took a cheap one year $1.77M deal with Buffalo after being very solid in LA only to likely play his way into another year for another one year deal situation. If we are going to do some one off year contracts like we did last year (Owens, Ford and such) I'd embrace a Rapp signing in such a manner. He tackles very well so run support from the safety position is there.
*K'Von Wallace - He was a mid season cut by Arizona despite playing serious snaps claimed by Urban as "numbers game" and then acquired by TEN from Arizona in hopes to help their defense and he for sure did. Grading out on PFF in the seven games with TEN at an astounding 75.9 and overall this year (his first asked to be a starter really) at 68.1 (very solid PFF grade considering first year starting). A 9.44 elite level athlete he fits Gute's types and is one of the guys in this section I'd not be shocked to see a team roll the dice on offering him a 2/3 year reasonable contract...and I wouldn't be scared if it was us with the right contract structure. Perhaps Vrable would pick up a call from MLF his old buddy and give the skinny on this dude.
*Terrell Edmunds 27yrs old - I still think TEN got the steal of last season getting him for just $2M one year deal...he only started 4 games this year but saw over 400 snaps for them. Past first rounder who perhaps new scenery could do wonders. He's a very intriguing thought as he played a TON on his rookie deal seeing over 90% snaps three out of five years at PIT and the other two over 80%. The only reason he missed snaps in PIT were essentially missing games completely. A 9.86 RAS guy...I gotta think he is a Gute type guy.

IMO Starters WITHOUT a doubt...comes with having to pay...
Jordan Whitehead 27 yrs old
- Another past fourth rounder still young but has tremendous starting history. This is a guy you sign for long term like when we went and signed Amos to a 4/36M deal. He is to me one of the front runners if Gute doesn't want to just maybe have found the guy but truly sign your plan at safety. Whitehead is committed to with enough money to bring that he's your plan for three seasons minimum likely.
Kyle Duggar 27 yrs old - Looking for his first "big" pay day Duggar is a starting level safety and did well this year for the Patriots on an otherwise struggling team. Played 97.9% of all defensive snaps for NE and put forth a 106 sack season with 1.5 sacks and 2 picks and a FF. To me he may get the second most money in the safety free agents and likely costs more than Whitehead I think....but chance Xavier McKinney pulls that #2 figure and could leave Duggar hopefully struggling to find BIG money. He is the type of guy Gute may swing at similar to the Amos timing.
Xavier McKinney 24yrs old - He and Duggar are battling for IMO the #2 and #3 positions in price tags this offseason for safeties.
Kamren Curl 25yrs old (24 right now) - This seventh round pick has earned some GREEN...according to spotrac he is actually going to make more than McKinney or Duggar...but I am not quite there but fully admit he is really good and VERY young. One of the best young safeties no one knows.

Antoine Winfield Jr 25 yrs old...Would be a MEGA signing. Best free agent in the position this year and would likely garner $15M+ a year deal. Not the type of signing I predict Gute is going to make but noted him here.
 

Dantés

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Guys I'd be interested in:

-L'Jarius Sneed, KC: Not a safety, technically, but an awesome DB. Sneed will play in the slot and outside, in a variety of coverages, and TACKLES.

-Antoine Winfield Jr, TB: The big splash; Winfield can do whatever you want. I doubt he ever hits the market, however. The Bucs have plenty of room.

-Kamren Curl, WAS: Very young and very versatile; would be a fantastic addition.

-Julian Blackmon, IND: Played a lot of corner in college and has covered the slot a lot in the NFL; could allow them to play some effective "big nickel."

-Xavier McKinney, NYG: More cover guy than box safety, but high quality and young.

-Deshon Elliott, MIA: Has put together a lot of quality play for Fangio; would make sense if they keep Barry or stay in that family of defense.

-Brandon Jones, MIA: Halftime role-player in Miami's defense who adds a lot of value on special teams.

Guys I would be nervous about paying:

-Darnell Savage, GB: We know what he is as a player at this point and it's not worth an extension.

-Jordan Whitehead, NYJ: There's lot to like about his game, but he has a problem whiffing on tackles and I'm kinda over that.

-Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, DET: He's a really good, versatile player, but also an unhinged crazy person.

-Kyle Dugger, NE: More of a sub linebacker than a safety and I don't trust players who have succeed with Belichick.

-Geno Stone, BAL: Very good in deeper coverage, but played behind a great front and not a good tackler.

-Jordan Fuller, LAR: The Rams' staff tend to maximize their players; I wouldn't expect Fuller to leave and then get better.
 

McKnowledge

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I like McKinney, Sneed, and Duggar, but I would lean towards Duggar.

Kansas will resign Sneed.

Great size, instincts, and comes from an organization with a great foundation of winning culture and work ethic.

Defense needs consistent leadership based upon actions on and off the field. A quiet leader. A grown up.

MLF era needs the McCarthy era's version of a Charles Woodson signing.

If Green Bay can poach Sneed from the Chiefs, that would be great.
 

Dantés

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Just say no to NE free agents who played well under Belichick.
 

mradtke66

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Darnell Savage 26 years old...I think in a best world Savage offers or agrees to come back sub-$3M a year on a prove it year...that's new money, he has void hits coming too anyways...3 would be like paying him $8.5 but if we don't sign him he still hits us with 5.5M void money.

He and his agent won't see it that way. We already paid him that money, this is just cap shenanigans.

I wouldn't mind him back, I have very little feel for what he's worth to us and others.
 

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If Hafley wants to run a healthy amount of single high, I hope they go hard after Xavier McKinney. He’s done a lot of that for Martindale’s defense and might be the best on the market specifically for that role.
 
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tynimiller

tynimiller

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If Hafley wants to run a healthy amount of single high, I hope they go hard after Xavier McKinney. He’s done a lot of that for Martindale’s defense and might be the best on the market specifically for that role.

Xavier's value was already high, add in the system we might be implementing and adding him to our defense would be insane. I just don't know if we can swing it....he's likely to be top 3 paid safeties some claim...we already have the highest paid corner (likely someone beats him soon).... and are facing massive extension with Love.
 

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Xavier's value was already high, add in the system we might be implementing and adding him to our defense would be insane. I just don't know if we can swing it....he's likely to be top 3 paid safeties some claim...we already have the highest paid corner (likely someone beats him soon).... and are facing massive extension with Love.

Gutekunst indicated today that they’re ready to compete in the market. They have a lot of flexibility in the future they could leverage if they want to.
 
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tynimiller

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Gutekunst indicated today that they’re ready to compete in the market. They have a lot of flexibility in the future they could leverage if they want to.

For sure, and if honest...there is no other position I'd be okay with getting into legit spending at this moment in time than Safety. It makes the biggest and swiftest impact I feel for the 2024 season.
 

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For sure, and if honest...there is no other position I'd be okay with getting into legit spending at this moment in time than Safety. It makes the biggest and swiftest impact I feel for the 2024 season.

Plus it’s a rich position in FA and a weak one in the draft.
 
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tynimiller

tynimiller

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Plus it’s a rich position in FA and a weak one in the draft.

34 safeties got a PFF grading overall of 70 or more....7 of those are set to be Free Agents that saw significant playing time in 2022. Crazy thing is two of the top four (McKinney and Winfield) are FAs.
 

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If Hafley wants to run a healthy amount of single high, I hope they go hard after Xavier McKinney. He’s done a lot of that for Martindale’s defense and might be the best on the market specifically for that role.
Why does single high need to be a safety instead of say a corner whose strength is more zone oriented than bump and run that happens to otherwise be a wasted pick on your roster?
 

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Why does single high need to be a safety instead of say a corner whose strength is more zone oriented than bump and run that happens to otherwise be a wasted pick on your roster?

Well when that happens, which is rare, it usually involves transitioning the guy’s position very early in his career, if not immediately.

There’s more to playing center field than range. Honed instincts and trained eyes are critical.
 

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34 safeties got a PFF grading overall of 70 or more....7 of those are set to be Free Agents that saw significant playing time in 2022. Crazy thing is two of the top four (McKinney and Winfield) are FAs.

Winfield probably doesn’t actually see the market, but McKinney has said he plans to.
 

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Reported today that Xavier McKinney will not be tagged by the Giants. He will test the market.

He will get a hefty contract, but I hope the Packers are in on him. He's far and away the best fit on the market for GB's needs.

He's 6'0" 201# and came out of Alabama with a 5.85 RAS.

He's still only 24 years old-- doesn't turn 25 until August.

In 2023, he had 116 tackles, 2 TFL, 0.5 sack, 3 INT, and 11 PBU; his PFF grade was 87.8 for what that's worth.

He spent a lot of time as a single high safety in Wink Martindale's blitz-heavy defense. But he's also a reliable tackler and capable in the box.

He isn't an elite player and he's going to get overpaid-- that's the nature of free agency. However, he's a high quality starter who suits Green Bay's needs. If they could land him and no one else because of cost, I think I would pull the trigger.
 
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tynimiller

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Reported today that Xavier McKinney will not be tagged by the Giants. He will test the market.

He will get a hefty contract, but I hope the Packers are in on him. He's far and away the best fit on the market for GB's needs.

He's 6'0" 201# and came out of Alabama with a 5.85 RAS.

He's still only 24 years old-- doesn't turn 25 until August.

In 2023, he had 116 tackles, 2 TFL, 0.5 sack, 3 INT, and 11 PBU; his PFF grade was 87.8 for what that's worth.

He spent a lot of time as a single high safety in Wink Martindale's blitz-heavy defense. But he's also a reliable tackler and capable in the box.

He isn't an elite player and he's going to get overpaid-- that's the nature of free agency. However, he's a high quality starter who suits Green Bay's needs. If they could land him and no one else because of cost, I think I would pull the trigger.

Agreed, but with Winfield Jr being tagged...McKinney just added a few millions no doubt possibly to his deal.
 

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Agreed, but with Winfield Jr being tagged...McKinney just added a few millions no doubt possibly to his deal.

I'd go 16M AAV on him. If someone wants to go nuts and give him 20+, then they should probably pass.
 
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tynimiller

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I'd go 16M AAV on him. If someone wants to go nuts and give him 20+, then they should probably pass.
My mind was around 15 but hoping 12…but that would take some serious upped guaranteed money
 

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Honestly he is young enough if they’d want to go non traditional route and guarantee 66% or so of contract for a safety I say do it…

With so much of the league running 2 high defense, hopefully the market for an expensive safety who can play single high is a little depressed. A lot of teams wouldn’t be in on him just because one of the pros of their defensive philosophy is that they can save money on safety.
 
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Interesting.
Yeah Xavier McKinney is a definitive upgrade over Savage. Not sure he’s worth $15mil per, but we’re talking basically Savage on his best year. There’s other ways to handle that with an extra year and same % guaranteed.
I’m hoping more in that 4X$50M-$55Mil area depending on guar%
but it’s whatever someone wants to pay. I would think one advantage is we’re probably a top 3 NFC contender and that spells playoffs.


Recently McKinney talked about The Giants not prioritizing his position. He obviously wants to get paid, but his other goal is obviously to Win a Championship.. we might not be the perfect fit for either, but we’re a top 3 favorite in the NFC and coupled with we’ve always been fair in offers of compensation. Maybe not the top dollar offer, but very reasonable for a top 3 NFC competitor.

I could see him paired with a later Day2-early Day3 selection
 
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mradtke66

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With so much of the league running 2 high defense, hopefully the market for an expensive safety who can play single high is a little depressed. A lot of teams wouldn’t be in on him just because one of the pros of their defensive philosophy is that they can save money on safety.

While possible, I don't think it'll play out like that. A good, single-high safety would thrive in a 2-deep scheme. If anything, he might feast because he, in theory, has less ground to cover. And he still makes the job of the other safety easier.

Corners you can sometimes cheap out in cover-2, because they're primarily flat coverage. Free Safety is always Free Safety.

Box safety can be depressed because they tend not to be able to 2-deep as well.
 
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