Report: The Packers are ‘a threat’ in the free agent safety market

Rumors link Green Bay to multiple players in the safety market, including a defensive back who is familiar with a current Packers coach.

Last week, ESPN’s Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler explained why Green Bay Packers safety Darnell Savage will receive “a nice deal” on the open market. On Sunday morning, just before the legal tampering period opens, though, the duo reported that the Packers are expected to be a high spender for the safety position when free agency kicks off.

Green Bay is considered a threat in the safety market. It wouldn’t be a shock if the Packers comb the Xavier McKinney and Kamren Curl markets, depending on the price point. Recently released safety Quandre Diggs could also be an option.

McKinney is a notable name here, as he was considered to be the caliber of a player who was in the franchise tag discussion before the New York Giants opted to not use the tag on either him or running back Saquon Barkley. McKinney was also recruited to Alabama by Derrick Ansley, who at the time was the team’s defensive backs coach. Ansley is now working as the Packers’ defensive pass game coordinator after spending last season as the Los Angeles Chargers’ defensive coordinator.

Ansley has another connection to a safety in this free agent crop: Alohi Gilman. Gilman, who had only been an off-and-on starter prior to 2023, was able to start 14 games under Ansley last season and had a breakout performance that resulted in high grades from Pro Football Focus.

Curl and Diggs have both been long-term starters. Curl’s contract is set to expire on Monday, while Diggs was released by the Seattle Seahawks in a cap-saving move.

According to Over the Cap, the Packers have around $14 million in cap space to play around with at the moment. As a reminder, this doesn’t include any sort of cap-saving methods that would come from altering the contracts of running back Aaron Jones, tackle David Bakhtiari or linebacker De’Vondre Campbell. The team hasn’t updated any of those deals at this point in time.

One would guess that the Packers will make some alterations to their veteran contracts before the “legal tampering period” begins on Monday, but if not, the team may wait until they need to money to execute some of their cap mechanics. If that’s the case, the release of one of these three players could be viewed as a canary in the coal mine for an upcoming safety signing.