Broncos free agency: 5 safeties to target if Kareem Jackson is not back

The Denver Broncos should be plenty active in the 2021 free agent signing period. Of course, the most pressing matters are in-house for the Broncos with franchise player Justin Simmons slated to hit free agency if the team doesn’t give him a contract extension or hit him with the tag for a second consecutive year.

The hope is obviously to get a long-term deal done with Simmons, and as far as the 2021 season is concerned, everyone should be expecting Simmons back in no. 31 in orange and blue. The Broncos will franchise tag him at the very least.

What about the future of veteran Kareem Jackson? The 2019 free agent pickup has been very good for the Broncos transitioning to the safety position. He provides some big hits from the secondary and has worked well in Vic Fangio’s defense.

With a cap hit of slightly more than $12.88 million in 2021, his age 33 season, there is a chance the Broncos could move on from Jackson. Not that it’s their first choice, but they could easily justify it.

Jackson has just one year left on his deal, will be 33 this season, and the crop of safeties in the 2021 free agency period and 2021 NFL Draft is really good.

The Broncos could look to get younger at the safety position even if they don’t get a lot cheaper. They could move on from Jackson’s 2021 cap number, eat roughly $2.88 million in dead money, and sign someone younger to a longer deal to pair with Justin Simmons on the back end of the Fangio defense.

Which players are available that might entice them to do that?

Let’s take a look.

1. Anthony Harris, Minnesota Vikings (age: 29, 30 in October)

Although I’ve written before about free agents with connections that could sign in Denver, the idea of Harris and the Broncos isn’t really something I’ve done a whole lot of thinking about until now.

It will be very interesting to see which former Vikings players George Paton brings into Denver in his first year as GM of the team, if any at all. Harris would fit the bill of a high-profile free agent following Paton from Minneapolis to the Mile High City.

Just like Justin Simmons in 2020, Harris received the franchise tag from the Vikings. He picked off a career-high six passes in 2019 and broke up 11 others, also a career-high

.In 2020, he set a career mark with 104 total tackles, but after picking off a total of 9 passes from 2018-19, he had none in 2020. Who knows how the Vikings (and George Paton) will view that dropoff statistically, but Harris is a smart, veteran player who can be extremely effective whether he’s in the box or playing in a two-high safety look.

The Vikings have utilized that a lot in the past couple of years, and that’s part of Fangio’s baseline defensive philosophy.

At the age of 29 going on 30, the Broncos could get three years younger at the position and get a potentially more versatile player on the back end if they were to move on from Jackson and pay Anthony Harris.

2. John Johnson, Los Angeles Rams (age: 25)

The Los Angeles Rams have made so many bold moves in recent years that they are going to have to say some tough goodbyes elsewhere on their roster in order to get under the lowered salary cap for 2021.

If John Johnson hits unrestricted free agency at the age of 25, he would almost undoubtedly be one of the most hotly pursued players in the entire crop.

Johnson, incidentally, was once the teammate of Broncos safety Justin Simmons when the two. were starring at Boston College. How good of a recruiter are you, Justin?

In his first and only year under defensive coordinator Brandon Staley, Johnson was moved all over the formation as a free safety, box safety, and slot player. He racked up 105 total tackles this past year along with eight passes defended and an interception.

Johnson would represent an obvious long-term investment at the safety position and likely would require a similar deal to whatever the Broncos end up giving to Justin Simmons. Could they justify paying two safeties that amount of money?

Given the team is moving in the direction of the NFL Draft at the cornerback position in the first two rounds in addition to free agency, it’s not out of the question to invest heavily here.

The possibility of reuniting Simmons and Johnson at the NFL level is a fun one, as expensive as it would be. The Broncos undoubtedly would have to consider this if Johnson became available given the fact that Johnson played in a defense under Staley this past season that will be very familiar to him should he make the move to Denver.

3. Marcus Williams, New Orleans Saints (age: 24, 25 in September)

Marcus Williams is a player Broncos GM George Paton will certainly never forget, whether he signs him in free agency or not.

Williams was on the other end of the Minneapolis Miracle play in the 2017 playoffs when the Vikings walked off on the New Orleans Saints.

Unlike Broncos safety Rahim Moore’s misplay in the 2012 postseason ultimately being the beginning of the end of his NFL career, Williams has bounced back from the Minneapolis Miracle to have a tremendous first contract with the New Orleans Saints.

The former 42nd overall pick out of Utah has 13 interceptions and a pair of forced fumbles in his first four NFL seasons along with 30 pass breakups and 246 total tackles. He’s been extremely productive at taking the ball away from the opposing team and is that not something the Broncos desperately need in their defense?

Williams has played in both single-high and two-high defensive schemes in New Orleans, so he would be able to make the transition to Fangio’s defense fairly easily.

At the age of 24, he is the youngest player on this list and obviously still offers a ton of upside moving forward. He’s also a freak of an athlete who ran a 4.56 in the 40-yard dash with a 43.5-inch vertical jump.

The Broncos need playmakers on the back end of the defense. Williams is precisely that.

4. Malik Hooker, Indianapolis Colts (age: 25 in April)

If the Denver Broncos are going to replace Kareem Jackson, they don’t exactly have to go after a player who does literally everything the same exact way.

Keep an open mind about the idea of other players coming in and potentially taking over his spot in Denver. Remember — Jackson was a cornerback in Houston before he came to the Broncos and played in Vic Fangio’s defense.

Malik Hooker would be an example of taking a shot on pure talent in free agency despite some concerns over injury history. It would be a tough pill to swallow to go from someone like Jackson, who played 100 percent of the defensive snaps in 2020, to Hooker, who has never played a full slate of games.

Again, you’re taking a shot on talent and ball production here, something Hooker has always been known for.

He is coming off a torn Achilles, so his medicals will have to be substantially vetted, but the potential is there for Hooker to be a big-time steal at a much lower price than the previous players on this list, maybe one a one- or two-year deal.

What is the goal of the Vic Fangio defense? You want to be able to stop the run and limit explosive plays downfield, relying on the front four or five to generate pressure and then let your team speed win on the back end.

The upside with a player like Hooker is tremendous, and even battling through injuries he had seven interceptions in his first three NFL seasons.

Kareem Jackson has been most effective in Denver as a heat-seeking missile, attacking the line of scrimmage and making some huge open-field tackles. He has not exactly been a ballhawk for the Broncos, at least not by comparison to some of the guys on this list of prospective free agents.

I think the Broncos should really consider the possibility of bringing in someone who can excel just as much in coverage for the long haul as anything else, given how crucial that is in this defense.

5. Rayshawn Jenkins, Los Angeles Chargers (age: 27)

A former fourth-round pick out of Miami, injuries have paved the way for Rayshawn Jenkins to earn a real opportunity in the 2021 free agency circuit.

Whether it’s with the Chargers and new head coach Brandon Staley or the Denver Broncos, I love Jenkins’ aggressiveness and combination of size and speed in the Fangio defense.

Jenkins is an ascending player who, in the last two seasons, has racked up 138 total tackles, eight passes broken up, five interceptions, and six tackles for loss.

Coming out of Miami, Jenkins ran a 4.51 in the 40-yard dash at 220 pounds. He has excellent size and speed and has been steadily putting that speed into consistently quality play, especially in coverage.

Although he has had some consistency issues with his tackling, the arrow appears to be pointing up for Jenkins and on a second contract, he could be quite the bargain.

In the 2015 offseason, the Broncos made an under-the-radar move to go and get Darian Stewart, a young safety who had made the most of opportunities when injuries popped up in Baltimore. I’m not saying they’re the same kind of player, but the situations could be somewhat similar between Stewart and Jenkins.

If the Broncos move on from Kareem Jackson, Jenkins would be an interesting option.

Final thoughts and a bonus player

The Broncos would probably love to keep continuity with Kareem Jackson and Justin Simmons at the safety spots, and rightfully so. Perhaps Jackson could be persuaded to sign a new deal to stay in Denver but bring his pay down, at least for the 2021 season. When he signed, he signed as an $11M AAV (average annual value) player, and at his age, he’s probably closer now to the $7-8M AAV range.

The Broncos don’t necessarily need the cap space from Jackson at this point, so why would we be talking about or entertaining the idea of moving on from him?

The reasoning is fairly simple. Between the 2021 free agency class and 2021 NFL Draft crop, the safety position this year is pretty loaded.

The Broncos would be making a long-term move either way, and they don’t necessarily need to move off of Jackson if they look to someone like Trevon Mohrig of TCU or Richie Grant of UCF in the 2021 NFL Draft.

As we can see here, however, there are at least a handful of options in free agency that might be worthy of the discussion of replacing Jackson since they would almost all be multi-year options where Jackson is 33, on the final year of his deal, and frankly may be unlikely to be back in 2022 anyway.

How about a bonus player in Will Parks?

The former sixth-round pick of the Broncos has proven his worth on special teams, at safety, as a nickel corner, as a dime linebacker, and in the locker room.

Parks’ value to the Broncos is obvious at this point. The team let him walk in free agency in 2020 and the team ended up bringing him back on waivers when the Eagles let him go in the middle of the season.

George Paton’s Vikings were one of the team’s to also put a waiver claim in on Parks at the time.

At any rate, the Broncos have a chance to get younger and possibly even better at the safety position in the 2021 offseason, which is no slight to Jackson who has played very well in Denver.

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Although certainly there may not be any major change at safety other than additions through the 2021 NFL Draft, the idea of looking to free agency is not without merit.