Packer Central

NFL Free Agency: Smashing the Safety Market

The Green Bay Packers have three safeties set to hit free agency, including four-year starter Adrian Amos.

Bill Huber

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GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers have 14 unrestricted free agents. Three of them play safety: Adrian Amos, who started all 66 regular-season games in his four seasons since being signed away from Chicago, Rudy Ford, who finished third on the team with three interceptions, and Dallin Leavitt, who tied for the team lead in tackles on special teams.

If all three leave, the depth is perilous. Darnell Savage came off a dismal fourth season in which he lost his starting job to Ford. Innis Gaines, an undrafted free agent, played 44 snaps on defense. Tariq Carpenter, a seventh-round rookie, played 16. James Wiggins, who was signed to a futures contract, played zero since entering the league as a seventh-round pick in 2020.

Who’s Off the Market?

The market is mostly strong, with the 49ers re-signing Tashaun Gipson and the Texans retaining M.J. Stewart.

Strong or Weak?

The market is excellent, whether it’s solid veterans such as Jordan Poyer or Amos or young talent like Juan Thornhill and Taylor Rapp.

Our Top 12

Jessie Bates, Cincinnati Bengals: Bates is one of the best players on the market, regardless of position. In five seasons, he’s picked off 14 passes. That includes a career-high four picks in 2022. More than just a ballhawk, Bates also is strong in run defense. A key component of playing safety is tackling. Of 65 safeties to play at least 500 snaps, he finished 24th in missed-tackle rate, according to Pro Football Focus.

Jordan Poyer, Buffalo Bills: In his first four seasons, Poyer started 10 games. In six seasons with the Bills, he started 91. He picked off 22 passes during that span, including five in 2021 and four in 2022. He’ll turn 32 next month and ranked 48th in PFF’s missed-tackle percentage but remains an upper-echelon player.

C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Philadelphia Eagles: In three seasons with the Saints, Gardner-Johnson intercepted five passes. Traded to Philadelphia for a bag of footballs and a Gatorade bottle, he paced the NFL with six interceptions despite missing five games. His ability to play safety and slot is key. He is a terrible tackler, ranking 64th out of 65 in PFF’s tackling percentage.

Vonn Bell, Cincinnati Bengals: A second-round pick by the Saints in 2016, Bell had two interceptions in his first six seasons. In 2022, he had four with eight passes defensed. He’s excellent against the run, too. The downside is he’s a bad tackler, ranking 57th among safeties. He recently turned 28 so had plenty of quality play remaining.

Julian Love, New York Giants: Love started 16 games in his first three seasons, then started 16 games in 2022. He set career highs with 124 tackles, six tackles for losses and two interceptions. He is a do-it-all performer who can play in the slot. He was an impressive eighth in PFF’s missed-tackles stat – and No. 1 among the free agents. He’ll turn 25 this week.

Jimmie Ward, San Francisco 49ers: A first-round pick in 2014, the Racine, Wis., native recorded five of his seven career interceptions the past two seasons. He had safety-slot versatility coming into the NFL and he still does, though he wants to play safety. He finished 21st in PFF’s missed-tackle rate. He’ll turn 32 before the start of camp.

Adrian Amos, Green Bay Packers: Here’s our free agent story on Amos, who finished 18th in PFF’s missed-tackle percentage.

Juan Thornhill, Kansas City Chiefs: The Packers drafted Darnell Savage instead of Thornhill in 2019. In four seasons with Kansas City, he picked off eight passes. He had three interceptions in 2022 and had a key role in the Chiefs’ run to the championship. He finished 40th in PFF’s missed-tackle rate. He’s missed just one game in his career.

Marcus Epps, Philadelphia Eagles: A sixth-round pick by Minnesota in 2019, Epps started all 17 games for the Eagles in 2022. While he didn’t have any interceptions, he had 94 tackles and six passes defensed. He was 42nd in missed-tackle percentage. Epps is an excellent run defender.

Taylor Rapp, Los Angeles Rams: A second-round pick in 2019, Rapp never quite lived up to expectations. Not that he’s been bad, with nine career interceptions and three seasons of 90-plus tackles. Rapp can play here, there and everywhere and deliver quality play. He finished 13th in PFF’s missed-tackle percentage.

Donovan Wilson, Dallas Cowboys: A sixth-round pick in 2019, Wilson set a career high with 101 tackles. He is a line-of-scrimmage attacker who had five sacks, seven tackles for losses, nine quarterback hits and two forced fumbles. He has three picks in four seasons. He did miss 17 tackles to rank 60th in missed-tackle percentage.

Nasir Adderley, Los Angeles Chargers: A second-round pick in 2019, Adderley started 44 games the past three seasons. He had career highs of 99 tackles and five passes defensed in 2021 and two of his three career interceptions in 2022. He tied for 40th in PFF’s missed-tackle metric. The last name? He is a cousin of Hall of Famer Herb Adderely.

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Green Bay Packers free agency preview

NFL free agency: Defensive line

NFL free agency: Receivers

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NFL free agency: Tight ends

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.

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