Deep group of safeties and cornerbacks left on free agent market

The Rams should be active in the second, third, and fourth phase of free agency

If the Los Angeles Rams were to field a defense today, they would most likely be starting Cobie Durant and Derion Kendrick next to free agent signee Darious Williams, as well as Russ Yeast next to safety addition Kamren Curl. And going that route could be fine, or just as fine as if it was Jason Taylor II, Tanner Ingle at safety or Tre Tomlinson and Quentin Lake at cornerback.

But between the draft and the next three phases of offseason free agency between now, post-draft, and pre-training camp, the Rams are likely to add to these position groups with players who could compete to start. Free agency has made it loud and clear that the NFL has zero urgency on safeties and cornerbacks.

The problem that L.A. has to solve is that they’re all but out of money. With only 59 players signed to the roster and only $20 million remaining in cap space, it will take some fancy cap work just for the team to get to camp with 90 players and cap compliance. But options will be plentiful when the Rams are confident they have the space.

Free agent safeties

Justin Simmons

Simmons has been a ballhawk, intercepting at least two passes in all eight seasons of his career with the Denver Broncos. He has been second-team All-Pro in four of the last five years and yet there’s been no buzz on his next destination since the Broncos released him to save money. I believe that’s due to a combination of Simmons not hearing the numbers he was expecting, likely assuming he’s at least a $16 million per year player (that puts him in the top-5 for safety contracts) and only getting offers for $10 million (or something), as well as teams being hesitant to sign players before the draft.

He’s been making about $18 million per year, so the probable pay cut despite showing no signs of decline is probably confusing Simmons as well as other safeties.

If you cut the number of teams with the cap space to sign Justin Simmons in half, it only leaves 16 teams, which is just a number I made up. But then those 16 teams have to also have a need at safety. Even the teams that have a need at safety could be looking at the draft and telling themselves that instead of signing Simmons to a veteran deal that could cost $14 million per year, they could draft a player who might only be ³⁄₄ as good but costs 1/10 as much.

With the owners meetings happening this week, it is possible that Simmons’ agent strikes a deal and opens the floodgates for the other free agent safeties who can’t get any bites. However, if Simmons and teams are that far apart on his value (the only free safety to make more than $7.5 million per year on a new deal was Xavier McKinney, who got $16.75 per year from the Packers and is an outlier) then he might be a free agent for longer than anyone could have predicted. I assume he will sign before the draft, he might just need to take a one-year contract and hope teams aren’t shy when he re-enters the market as a 31-year-old in 2025.

As I said before, the Rams have $20 million to add about 30 players. It makes little sense to add Simmons unless they restructure the contract of Matthew Stafford or find money elsewhere.

Eddie Jackson, Quandre Diggs, Micah Hyde

In the next tier of available safeties, you still have plenty of veterans who have started a lot of games and can clearly still play at a high level. The wall they are running into is that the safety market fell off of a cliff and it would not be shocking to see quite a few of these names remain available into July and August. Yes, a team could sign a former Pro Bowl safety in his early 30s after training camp starts and pay him running back money to do it.

Diggs is 31, he has barely missed any games in his 9-year career. He was released by the Seahawks to save cap room and he had 14 interceptions in his three seasons prior to 2023.

Hyde is 33, he played 14 games with the Bills last year and intercepted two passes. When the Rams added Eric Weddle for the Super Bowl stretch in 2021, he was 36. And he was still good enough to get the job done, which probably didn’t do his position group any favors: All the teams, including the Rams, saw how easy it was to sign a 36-year-old safety off the street and win a Super Bowl. Even if he was a great, borderline Hall of Fame safety with the Chargers, that’s still a bad sign for safeties to do that at 36 and having not played in two years.

Eddie Jackson is 30, but missed 10 games in the last two years with the Chicago Bears. If healthy and up to speed, Jackson has proven to be a great asset in coverage.

Marcus Maye, Jamal Adams, Tashaun Gipson, Terrell Edmunds

Maye is 31 but missed 10 games with the Saints last year and seven games in 2022. His free agent contract with the Saints turning into a disaster didn’t help the case to sign safeties.

But there was no bigger acquisition disaster than giving up two first round picks for Jamal Adams and paying him like the best safety in the NFL, when that’s hardly even the position he plays. Adams is more like a not-great off-ball linebacker than a safety. The Rams could only have interest in Adams if he a) didn’t cost anything and b) was spending his time in the box. Given the need at linebacker, maybe L.A. would take a swing and Adams is only 28, but he might have the body of a 50-year-old.

Gipson is 33 but has been far more reliable than some of these other safeties. He started 33 games over the past two seasons with the 49ers. He had five interceptions in 2022. I know interception totals aren’t end all, be all.

Edmunds is only 27, but the former first round pick has quickly fallen from being a starter to a reserve, splitting time between the Titans and Eagles last season and only starting four games.

Jayron Kearse, Tracy Walker, Justin Evans, Keanu Neal, Kareem Jackson, Adrian Phillips, Ryan Neal, Adrian Amos, Julian Blackmon, John Johnson, Terrell Burgess

Even Nick Scott (Panthers) got a contract before these safeties. Would John Johnson III be brought back again?

Free agent cornerbacks

Stephon Gilmore

Any time fans know you’ve been in the league for at least 10 years, and you don’t play QB, they’re skeptical of your ability to be of value. Gilmore is entering year 13 but should have value left in the tank. He’s turning 34 in September, but Gilmore started 17 games with the Cowboys in 2023 and 16 games with the Colts in 2022. He’s been on four teams in four years and seems to at worst be an above-average corner with the ability to adapt to a new defense each season.

Teams went after him a little bit last year with 95 targets and an average depth of target of 10.1, his job also became harder after Trevon Diggs was injured and out for the year, but he didn’t let up: Gilmore allowed a completion percentage of 56% and only 6.9 yards per target with the Cowboys.

Gilmore was making $10 million per season. The top free agent corner contracts we’ve seen so far would be the $12 million AAV to Chidobe Awuzie and $10 AAV to Kenny Moore. They aren’t making very much, although L’Jarius Sneed hasn’t signed an extension since being traded to the Titans and he might be getting much more than $12.

Gilmore knows he’s not a $20 million corner anymore, but like Simmons he might be offended by the offers he is getting and I expect both of those players to sign contracts with numbers that are heavily tied to incentives. Gilmore might get something like a one-year, $13 million contract that is actually a $6.5 million base salary and $6.5 million in incentives based on playing time and awards.

The Rams could maybe afford a deal that comes in under $7 million in cap hit, although they would still need to find the space by moving money around and pushing their commitments into 2025. Would you do that for a 34-year-old cornerback?

Steven Nelson

As a nickel player, Nelson should still be among the best in the league. He is 31, but doesn’t usually miss games or cost very much. He’s limited to playing inside but that could be a huge need for the Rams. Nelson had four interceptions with the Texans last year and allowed a passer rating of only 73.3 on 70 targets in his direction. PFF ranked Nelson as the third-best available free agent, behind Simmons and Gilmore.

Xavien Howard, J.C. Jackson, Adoree’ Jackson, Patrick Peterson

More veteran options, more red flags. J.C. Jackson is only 28 but can’t stay healthy and just hasn’t been a good player since getting his own big free agent contract in 2022 with the Chargers. That was a disaster.

Adoree’ is also 28, he played for the Giants last year and made 14 starts.

Howard is 30, he started 13 games with the Dolphins last season. Since intercepting 10 passes in 2020, then five in 2021, he’s only intercepted two in the last two years.

Peterson is basically the same age as Gilmore but hasn’t had the same level of attention in a long time. He’s played for the Vikings and Steelers in the last three years since leaving Arizona and he’s been healthy. Peterson might actually be a cheaper, safer play than Gilmore but wouldn’t seem to have the same ceiling at this point in his career. Peterson might also retire, it is unclear how many teams still view him as a starter, if any.

Avonte Maddox, Eli Apple, Daryl Worley, Ahkello Witherspoon, Jerry Jacobs, Tre Herndon, Rock Ya-Sin

Ahkello Witherspoon was once a player in this group a year ago—a corner who is available all summer and proves to have more value in the tank than expected—and he’s in it again! The Rams could bring back Witherspoon at a low, low cost.

No team expects to sign a great cornerback at this point of the offseason, but they don’t need to be great. They need to be greater than who the Rams already have in the room. L.A. could draft a cornerback in the first two rounds, or even round three, and expect him to compete for a starting job right away. In addition to signing one or two veterans. I don’t expect Durant, Kendrick, Tomlinson, Lake, Shaun Jolly, and Cam McCutcheon to be the only ones competing to start with Darious Williams.

Will they add any of the names on these lists though? Can they?

Expect some news on this front, even if it’s not before the draft.