The last few days have been tough on NFL safeties. However, it’s become a bullish buyer’s market for teams looking to add a safety or two from the upcoming free agency pool.
One of the top names on the list is Detroit’s own C.J. Gardner-Johnson. He’s been joined in recent days by a slew of 2023 starters who have been unceremoniously thrown into the free agent pool, mostly for salary cap purposes.
Since the NFL Scouting Combine safety workouts last week, all of these safeties have been released by their teams:
Rayshawn Jenkins, Jaguars
Jamal Adams, Seahawks
These are not insignificant players. Poyer was an All-Pro in 2022. Simmons earned second-team All-Pro status in four of the last five seasons. Diggs is third in the NFL in interceptions since the prior Lions regime traded him away in 2019.
Earlier in the offseason, Chicago unloaded longtime (and good) starter Eddie Jackson. Detroit, of course, parted ways with longtime starter Tracy Walker, too.
They join a group that already features appealing starters like Xavier McKinney (formerly of the New York Giants), Kam Curl (Washington Commanders) and Micah Hyde (Buffalo Bills) — and that’s far from a complete list of safeties worthy of signing around the league.
The Lions’ current safety room has Kerby Joseph, Ifeatu Melifonwu and Brian Branch, though Branch played just 41 of his 738 snaps at strong or free safety in his rookie season (he’s a slot defender). With Gardner-Johnson, Walker and Will Harris all pending free agents, the entirety of the depth behind the starters is 2023 undrafted rookie Brandon Joseph.
In short, the Lions have real needs at safety. That could involve bringing back Gardner-Johnson and Harris, but the unexpected bumper crop of available free agents opens up a lot of possibilities for Brad Holmes and the Lions.
