Free Agency Preview: Secondary

February 25, 2022

by Alex Zeese

Washington finished the 2021 season ranked 28th in passing yards allowed, giving up 4333 yards along with 34 touchdowns, the NFL’s worst, and just 11 interceptions, which was 22nd. That ends up being a passer rating of 99.47 against this defense for the season. Bobby McCain led the team in interceptions with 4. Landon Collins and William Jackson III each had 2, and William Fuller had 1. Meanwhile, Kamren Curl led the secondary in tackles with 99, including 62 solo tackles.

While the team could still use some help at cornerback, they already have allocated quite a few financial assets to the position group, including third round pick Benjamin St-Juste, and twp fairly sizable contracts in Kendall Fuller’s $11M cap hit and William Jackson III’s $14M cap hit. While the team could clearly use some help in this area, it’s unclear if they would have the capital to spend big on another free agent corner. However, if the team wanted to here are a few of the big names that could be available:

J.C. Jackson, 26 years old. Jackson had a big year last year in New England with 8 interceptions. You would think the odds of him leaving the Pats are decent, as he’s in line for a huge payday in this free agency. If Jackson were to be brought in, the team would need to move someone to make cap space.

Rasul Douglass, 26 years old. He had 5 interceptions in his last year at Green Bay. He would likely cost much less than Jackson.

Kyle Fuller, 29 years old. His contract in Denver is up. I admit it: the only reason I added him to this list is because of his brother already being on the roster, which is terrible roster management. He made $9M last year and would likely not come cheap.

Donte Jackson, 27 years old. The Carolina Panthers picked Jackson with a 2nd round pick in 2018. Jackson would be much less expensive than the other names mentioned above. He averages 3 interceptions a season.

I’m going to focus more on the safety position, particularly at the free safety spot. Given that the team is likely to move on from at least one of their two safeties, either McCain or Landon Collins, they will probably want to bring in someone else to pair with Curl. While Curl is clearly better suited to playing strong safety, his playing style seems a bit more versatile than Landon Collins, who was limited to playing inside the box and stopping the run like a linebacker. Curl is much better in coverage, so finding a free safety who can complement his talents would be key.

The obvious move, and the one most likely for this front office, would simply be to bring back Bobby McCain. They clearly liked him and his playing style fit well enough with Curl, but there are a number of talented free safeties in this class.

The big name, if he becomes a free agent, would be Tyrann Mathieu, who is 29 years old. Mathieu has been among the top safeties in the NFL over the last few seasons and a staple of the Kansas City defense. He can play both free and strong safety. I think that if matched with Curl, the two of them could be one of the best duos in the NFL. However I could easily see his next contract being bigger than what Washington gave Landon Collins, and I’m not sure that’s something the team wants to do again.  I would be shocked if the Chiefs let him leave.  Here are a couple of other safeties candidates:

Marcus Williams, 25 years old, New Orleans Saints. Williams could potentially be a great fit for this roster. He seems like a guy who can play deep center field very well, which is something this team has needed for a while and he’s also a solid run-stopper for a deep safety. Add to that his relative youth, and that the Saints are way over the cap, he could be a great option.

Marcus Maye, 27 years old, Jets. Maye does a good job of keeping the play in front of him, and when a receiver does get open, he’s got a decent ability to recognize it and adjust what he’s doing to get back to the target.