Packers: 5 free agent safeties to target this offseason
By Paul Bretl
Tyrann Mathieu
The Honey Badger is just 26-years-old and is coming off of a one-year deal with the Houston Texans that paid him $7 million in total.
During the 2018 offseason, Mathieu stated that he wants to play “where football matters”. And what better place than Green Bay, where the people live, eat and breathe Green Bay Packers football.
If we look back on his career, Mathieu has had two major knee injuries but he did manage to start all 16 games in 2018 with Houston.
In those games, Mathieu recorded 89 total tackles, two interceptions, eight pass deflections and a fumble recovery. His ability to line up at multiple positions including cornerback and linebacker, makes him a threat as a blitzer where Mathieu had three sacks, five tackles-for-loss and two quarterback hits this past season.
In addition to his ability as a blitzer, Mathieu is just tenacious on the field and is a very good tackler. All of which are areas that this Packers secondary need to improve on.
Landon Collins
At just 24-years-old, Landon Collins is regarded as one of the top safeties in the league and will be in high-demand. Realistically, he may not see the open market as he could end up re-signing with the New York Giants or receive the franchise tag.
With that said, the Packers should do everything they can to bring him in until he is no longer an option.
In 2018, Collins played in just 12 games but recorded 96 total tackles, which ranked 11th overall in the NFL. Collins also added five tackles-for-loss, two quarterback hits and four pass deflections.
Collins would bring a physicality to the Packers secondary, he is a great tackler that limits yards after the catch and is very good in the run game. Everything the Packers need in a safety.
According to Spotrac, Collins could command around $9.3 million per year on the open market, making him one of the highest paid safeties in the NFL.
Although the Giants may have the best chance to sign Collins, in a 2018 interview, he called Aaron Rodgers the best player he’s ever gone up against. Maybe Collins would rather play with Rodgers than against him?