Safety in numbers has taken on a whole new meaning in the NFL this offseason. That's because few zeroes are being dangled to the free agents playing the position. The safety market has proven soft even for a league in which teams are flush with salary-cap space.
The most lucrative safety deal signed this offseason was Tyrann Mathieu’s one-year, $7 million pact with Houston, followed by other relatively modest contracts signed by New Orleans’ Kurt Coleman (three years for $18 million with $4.5 million guaranteed) and Pittsburgh’s Morgan Burnett (three years, $14.3 million, $4.3 million guaranteed).
Some of the biggest names still available, like Kenny Vaccaro, Eric Reid and Mike Mitchell, remain unsigned because of dissatisfaction with the money being tendered. Another one is Tre Boston, who understandably finds himself dumbfounded at what has unfolded.
Boston thought he would be able to cash in after the best season of his NFL career; he posted career highs in tackles (79), pass break-ups (eight) and interceptions (five) last season with the Chargers. And with Boston not turning 26 until July, the best should still be yet to come.
NFL FREE AGENCY:
Best players still available
Yet more than two weeks into the signing period, Boston still hasn't gotten the offer he wants after initially receiving interest from Arizona, Oakland, Cleveland and the New York Giants.
"Just like a few of the other guys, we’re just not hearing anything near what we want to hear or even close," Boston told co-host Ed McCaffrey and me Thursday on SiriusXM NFL Radio. "We're closer to veteran minimum than we are to the $7-, $8-, $9-million players we wanted to be two months ago or even eight months ago."
Boston has a valid reason for being perplexed.
"It's kind of unbelievable to me," he said. “We’re talking about a position that’s needed more and more on the field in today’s game.
"There are about five or six valuable starting safeties in free agency right now. But I guess it’s just trying to get us to take peanuts like the rest of them have. That’s just the business of the game."
Boston said his agent has spoken to the Chargers about re-signing, but the two sides have reached an impasse because “they think I’m more of a strong safety-type of player." Value at that position is generally lesser than at free safety because playing the latter requires better range, especially in pass coverage.
One NFL team executive told Sporting News the overall lack of top-end speed among free-agent safeties is one of the contributing factors to a repressed market.
"It’s a marginal group," the executive said. “You really don’t have one cover safety in the group. You have some decent box types like Vaccaro and Reid, but it’s primarily backup types left.”
The possibility of teams addressing the position in the upcoming 2018 NFL Draft plays a role, as well. Rather than signing a veteran, clubs with safety needs might instead be focusing on prospects like Alabama's Minkah Fitzpatrick, Florida State's Derwin James or Stanford's Justin Reid.
MOCK DRAFT 2018:
Multiple DBs selected early
Boston said he hasn't set a personal timetable for signing and is still holding out hope for a multiyear deal. However, Boston does realize at some point he might have to begrudgingly repeat what he did last offseason — sign a one-year deal hoping for something better in the future.
"You’ve gotta have patience,” Boston said. "Everybody thinks that free agency is just these one or two first-beginning days. But it can go on a long time. We’ve seen it happen before like last year with the running backs group."
This year, it’s the safeties that are being pinched.
