The safety position is where the Indianapolis Colts could still use some help, but the free-agent market continues to shrink.
On Friday it was reported by Adam Schefter that the Baltimore Ravens signed Eddie Jackson to a one-year deal. At this time, the contract specifics haven’t been reported.
Jackson, a fourth-round pick by the Bears in 2017, has spent his entire career in Chicago up to this point. Jackson was a Pro Bowler in 2018 and 2019 and an All-Pro in 2018.
Foot injuries have kept Jackson off the field at times over the last two seasons with him missing 10 games during that span. However, when on the field, Jackson has still maintained good ball production, totaling five interceptions and 11 passes defensed, according to Pro Football Reference.
Safety, of course, is a question mark for the Colts entering training camp. Collectively, the Colts’ secondary surrendered too many big plays in 2023 and didn’t make enough plays on the ball, ranking in the bottom third of the NFL in both yards per pass attempt allowed and passes defensed.
However, the Colts’ didn’t make any outside additions to this position group during the offseason. Re-signing Julian Blackmon will help provide some stability, but there are still unknowns around the free safety role.
As of now, this will be one of the more intriguing positional battles to take place this summer between Nick Cross and Rodney Thomas. Based on what we heard from offseason programs, the two have been rotating starting reps in the practices that were open to the media.
“As much competition as we can have, we feel that will raise the bar with that group,” defensive coordinator Gus Bradley said via the Indy Star. “We’re just keeping it as competitive as we can right now.”
In addition to bolstering the competition at free safety, the Colts could also use more depth at the position with Daniel Scott out for the season with an Achilles injury.
Whether or not the Colts are actively looking to add to the safety position is not known, although following the draft, GM Chris Ballard did mention that they would explore remaining free agent options (he didn’t specify a position) at that time to see if there were any potential fits.
“Between now and the start of the season – there are still some good players out there,” Ballard said after the draft. “There’s some veterans out there that can still play. We’ll dig and investigate all of them and then make a decision if we think they are the right fit for us as we go along.”
In addition to the Ravens signing Jackson, in recent weeks the Rams have signed John Johnson, the Titans signed Jamal Adams, and it was reported that free agent Tashaun Gipson will serve a six game suspension for violating the league’s performance-enhancing substances policy.