Grading on Salary-Cap Curve: Safeties

The Packers invested heavily at safety but the best grade went to an under-the-radar addition.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Player grades have long been a staple of postseason analysis. Ours are different. So much of building a team is doing it within the constraints of the salary cap. Teams need their big-money players to come up big and some bargain players to outplay their contracts. Thus, our annual grades are done on a salary-cap curve.

SAFETIES

ADRIAN AMOS

Cap: $5.9 million (16th at position)

Season: Amos jumped from the rival Bears to the Packers with a four-year, $36 million contract. He was exactly as advertised. On a play-to-play basis, Amos did little to look like a $9 million-per-year player. But Amos is the personification of Steady Eddie. Not every big play has to be a big play. A big play can be preventing a big play. That was Amos. He generally was in the right place at the right time and missed only five tackles. Of 83 safeties who played 338 snaps, Amos finished eighth in ProFootballFocus.com’s tackling efficiency. Amos finished third on the team with 87 tackles, by the coaches’ count. Having played 1,036 snaps, Amos’ tackle rate was one for every 11.91 snaps. Amos struggled a bit when forced to replace Raven Greene as the dime linebacker; his season took when with Ibraheim Campbell returned to take hold of that spot. By the official league stats, Amos set a career high with 81 tackles, matched his career high with two interceptions and just missed his career high with eight passes defensed. He did not force a fumble. According to Sports Info Solutions, Amos allowed a 67.4 percent completion rate and 7.9 yards per target, both worse than his final three years in Chicago, but allowed just one touchdown.

Grade: B-minus.

DARNELL SAVAGE

Cap: $2,275,943 (46th at position)

Season: The Packers moved up in the first round to grab Savage to pair with Amos as part of a new-look tandem. His speed is dramatic and his upside is obvious. It was an up-and-down rookie season and the Packers need better in the long run. According to Sports Info Solutions, Savage allowed a 44.4 percent completion rate, one touchdown and 4.7 yards per target. He had two interceptions (and dropped two more), a team-high two forced fumbles and seven passes defensed. That’s the good. He missed an incredible number of tackles, though – an obvious problem at his position, when he’s often the last line of defense. Pro Football Focus charged him with 14 misses and the sixth-worst missed-tackle rate among the 83 safeties who played at least 338 snaps. We had Savage with 17 misses, plus three in the championship game. In 14 games, Savage had 61 tackles (coaches’ count) in 865 snaps, giving him a tackle rate of one tackle for every 14.18 snaps.

Grade: C.

CHANDON SULLIVAN

Cap: $570,000 (135th at position)

Season: Sullivan played in five games for the Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 2018. He was released after this year’s draft and the Packers added him on May 6. It was one of GM Brian Gutekunst’s understated moves. Over the final 12 regular-season games, Sullivan played 20-plus snaps in 10 games and 35-plus snaps in five games. According to Sports Info Solutions, Sullivan allowed a scant 6-of-21 passing for 74 yards with one interception and five additional breakups. In other words, he almost got his hands on as many footballs as the receivers he was covering. He added one forced fumble. Sullivan had 26 tackles, giving him a tackle rate of one tackle for every 13.46 snaps. Of 83 safeties who played 338 snaps – that was Sullivan’s snap count – he finished 63rd in ProFootballFocus.com’s tackling efficiency with three misses.

Grade: B.

WILL REDMOND

Cap: $570,000 (135th at position)

Season: Redmond had 30 tackles in 271 snaps, giving him a tackle rate of one tackle for every 9.03 snaps. He played more than 50 snaps in three consecutive games in October but was phased out of the secondary rotation with just five defensive snaps in the first seven regular-season games. His six missed tackles – more than Amos despite playing 765 fewer snaps – were a big reason why. According to Sports Info Solutions, he allowed 5-of-7 passing for 58 yards with one touchdown and one pass defensed. He tied Oren Burks for the team lead with nine special-teams tackles.

Grade: C-minus.

IBRAHEIM CAMPBELL

Cap: $519,529 (142nd at position)

Season: Campbell’s return from last year’s torn ACL was key to the defense’s strong play down the stretch. Upon his return against Carolina, Green Bay went 6-1 in seven regular-season games and the defense allowed 20 points or less five times. In seven games (three starts), Campbell had 15 tackles in 181 snaps, giving him a tackle rate of one tackle for every 12.07 snaps. All of those snaps were in the dime linebacker role. He forced one fumble but otherwise didn’t get his hands on the ball. Defensive coordinator Mike Pettine liked to say Campbell filled the grade sheet with pluses if not stats. According to Sports Info Solutions, he allowed 6-of-11 passing for 69 yards. He missed two tackles but had one forced fumble.

Grade: C.

RAVEN GREENE

Cap: $414,990 (156th at position)

Season: Greene won the dime linebacker job in training camp and played a big role in the defensive masterpiece that was the Week 1 upset at Chicago. However, he suffered an ankle injury in Week 2 against Minnesota and didn’t play again. An undrafted free agent in 2018, he’s wound up on injured reserve both seasons. Greene had seven tackles in 70 snaps, giving him a tackle rate of one tackle for every 10.0 snaps. According to Sports Info Solutions, he allowed 2-of-4 passing for 10 yards and broke up one pass. He did not miss any tackles. With his bulk and athleticism, he’s a natural for Pettine’s defense but 113 regular-season snaps and two trips to IR is not ideal.

Grade: D-minus.

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