Pro Football Focus recently assigned “best landing spots” for their top 20 available free agents. Checking in at No. 8 on the list was safety Julian Blackmon, however, instead of the Colts being named as the ideal landing spot for him, PFF picked the New York Giants.
The Giants are a natural pick for Blackmon after they lost Xavier McKinney this offseason to the Green Bay Packers.
Blackmon has played all over the defensive backfield, including as a free safety, in the box, and in the slot. In 2023, he would play a career-high 468 snaps down in the box.
Blackmon has proven to be a sound tackler, missing fewer than eight percent of his 132 tackle attempts over the last two seasons. This has then translated over to making an impact in the run game, where he ranked fifth this past season in run stop rate among all safeties.
The 2023 season was also a career year for Blackmon in coverage. He held opponents to under 12 yards per catch and came away with four interceptions and two pass breakups.
Although PFF picked the Giants as the best landing spot for Blackmon, a reunion with the Colts makes an immense amount of sense. Recently GM Chris Ballard mentioned that the two parties have restarted conversations.
Without Blackmon, the Colts have a big hole at the safety position. Right now, presumably, Nick Cross and Rodney Thomas will compete for the starting free safety role, but the strong safety spot, who typically plays closer to the line of scrimmage, is up for grabs and is a role Blackmon could fill.
On top of all of that, Blackmon, of course, knows the defensive scheme well, having played in it.
Before free agency began, PFF projected that Blackmon would land a two-year deal worth $5.75 million per year, with $6 million in total guaranteed.
With Blackmon still unsigned, it’s not as if he hasn’t drawn interest from teams, but there’s clearly been a discrepancy between what teams were willing to offer and what he’s been willing to sign for.
At this stage of the game it’s difficult to know if PFF’s original contract projection remains in the ballpark or if the contract value has decreased given that the free agent market has settled.
From the Colt’s salary cap perspective, they rank 13th currently in effective cap space and likely have the means available to re-sign Blackmon.
With this being a so-so draft class at the safety position, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for Ballard to try to address the need in free agency, so that he no longer feels like he has to do so right away in the draft–especially since there aren’t many immediate impact options available.