The NFL is facing a second exodus of players in a position. This time it’s at the safety position. Just within the past week, players such as Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs, Justin Simmons, and more are being released by their current employers.
It is of no coincidence that this is occurring at the exact same time as running backs, headed by Saquon Barkley, are also facing their own problems. What exactly is going on?
What Is Happening to the Safety Position?
Age is a common factor as to why certain players may seem expendable as they continue to navigate their NFL careers. Virtually all of the players who have been released by their clubs are north of 30 years of age. Jordan Poyer, for instance, is already well north of 30 years old, while his fellow safeties are rapidly approaching that number.
But, age cannot fully explain why all of these players are being released. For one, the Broncos and Seahawks may be seeking to rebuild. Rebuilding rosters will so often seek to cut away their older players in a bid to get younger. As a counteract to these older players, however, 24 year old Xavier McKinney was released by the Giants. The leaguewide cap increase experienced this Offseason still has led teams like the Buffalo Bills to cut away these players to get under the cap and be able to spend improving their team elsewhere.
The free agent safety market is insane:
Xavier McKinney
Kyle Dugger
Justin Simmons
Kamren Curl
Eddie Jackson
Kevin Byard
Julian Blackmon
Geno Stone
Micah Hyde
Jordan Poyer
C.J. Gardner-Johnson
Quandre Diggs
Jamal Adams
Darnell Savage
Jeremy Chinn
Rayshawn Jenkins
Jordan… https://t.co/m99VUig8RQ— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) March 7, 2024
Will These Players Have Suitors?
There is very little doubt that, in a safety position class getting deeper by the day, most of these players will unquestionably find work elsewhere. Some of these players may even be able to return to their current employer. But in a business like the NFL, where teams will only continue to seek to get younger, their window to find more work will grow ever shorter by the year.
Conclusion
And thus, we return to the problem at hand: are NFL Safeties going the way of the running back? There are shocking similarities between players at both positions being made expendable, that much is for sure. But circumstances for running backs are still ever more different than NFL Safeties. In a pass happy league, defensive backs are as important as they have ever been and will continue to be.