NFL free agency sees a crush of safeties available

NFL free agency is going to be bonkers for anybody playing safety.

There are a dearth of top-end talents at quarterback, wide receiver, tight end and other positions across NFL rosters. Meanwhile safety is absolutely loaded. It is the second straight year that this has been the case in NFL free agency. Last March, we watched as the safety position was slow-played to the hilt. Some of the better players in the league such as Tyrann Mathieu, Tre Boston and Kenny Vaccaro had to accept one-year deals.

Now, that trio is joined by the likes of Adrian Amos, Landon Collins, Earl Thomas, Eric Weddle, Lamarcus Joyner, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Jonathan Cyprien. As well as that, there are others who are all looking for new homes and fat paydays.

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It will be fascinating to see which teams jump in head-first. Who will start spending money on a position that has a tremendous buyer’s market? General managers will allow the market to develop without having to get into a bidding war for one specific player. They know that a litany will be available if they simply wait it out.

One of the smartest people in this scenario might turn out to be Eric Reid. Reid had to wait until the early part of the 2018 season to sign with the Carolina Panthers. He showed his skills well enough to earn a three-year, $22 million deal in January. Reid didn’t wait around to sign, instead deciding to eschew free agency for certainty and a lucrative contract. With all the competition he would have had to face on the open market. As a result, it’s hard to see any downside to his decision.

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While some of the top safeties like Collins and Thomas are going to get paid, it might be the middle class of this group that hurts the most. In many years, Amos would be a hot commodity, coming off his rookie deal to hit the market for the first time. For 2019, he could end up sitting on the proverbial lot while the aging vets take one-year deals and the superstars clean up on the big contracts. In essence, players like Amos, Clinton-Dix and Weddle could be the best value, even if they aren’t the best safeties available.

With the NFL free agency madness beginning on Monday — the tampered period, anyway — teams are going to start talking in earnest with agents, hoping to land a difference-maker in the secondary. This time around, it will be a game of musical chairs, with some feeling very good about where they end up when the music stops, and some without a place to go.