Commanders didn’t even make an offer to safety Kam Curl

The Commanders didn’t even attempt to retain Kam Curl.

Over the past two seasons, former Washington coach Ron Rivera made it clear how important safety Kam Curl was to the Commanders. Ex-defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio often echoed those sentiments.

Rivera and Del Rio are gone. Washington has a new head coach (Dan Quinn) and a new general manager (Adam Peters). And through one week of free agency, we’ve seen Peters begin taking a wrecking ball to the roster Rivera assembled.

Still, many believed Curl would be among Washington’s free agents with a high probability of returning. It didn’t happen, as Curl signed a two-year deal with the Los Angeles Rams.

Before Curl signed with the Rams, the Commanders had already decided to move on from Curl after signing former Panthers safety Jeremy Chinn to a one-year deal.

Did Washington even attempt to keep Curl?

According to Sam Fortier of The Washington Post, the Commanders didn’t even make Curl an offer.

Why? Fortier offered the following:

Washington didn’t offer a deal to Curl because it believed veteran Jeremy Chinn would be a “better fit” at box safety for its new defensive scheme. (Chinn, 26, signed a one-year deal worth a base value of $4.1 million.) The official declined to elaborate on the specifics of the new scheme or why Chinn was a better fit.

Curl’s lack of turnovers iddn’t help his chances at a return. After recording three interceptions as a rookie in 2020, Curl had none over the past three seasons. Still, he was a good, dependable player and always assignment-sound.

It was no secret Curl wanted to stay in Washington. However, a flooded safety market due to multiple releases ahead of free agency hurt his market.

Peters has signed 20 players since free agency opened last week. Only four of the signees played for the Commanders last season. Most outside signees were signed to modest short-team deals as Peters sought to fill holes and maintain financial flexibility for future seasons.

Photos from the Panthers career of Jeremy Chinn

Gallery: 25 photos from the Carolina Panthers career of Jeremy Chinn

Even without Ron Rivera in the picture, the pipeline from the Queen City to the nation’s capital is still running.

Along with linebacker Frankie Luvu, safety Jeremy Chinn is headed over to the Washington Commanders. The team announced the signings of the two former Carolina Panthers this morning, two days after the start of the new league year.

Let’s take a look back at some of the best images of Chinn’s Carolina career:

1 pending free agent the Colts could target from each NFC team

Taking a look at one pending free agent for the Colts from each NFC team.

With free agency right around the corner, the Indianapolis Colts have the chance to make some key additions to a roster that already has some promise.

Working with some of the most salary-cap space in the NFL this offseason, general manager Chris Ballard and the front office can continue to add pieces to the defensive side of the ball while improving the supporting cast for quarterback Anthony Richardson.

Re-signing some of their own players like Michael Pittman Jr., Grover Stewart and Kenny Moore II will be key. But they also could look around the conference to bring in some outside talent.

We know Ballard isn’t one to make huge splashes in free agency, but they are still going to be an active team even if it means simply adding depth.

Here’s a look at one pending free agent from each NFC team that should interest the Colts:

Ranking 2024’s top 12 free-agent safeties

The 2024 offseason’s top 12 free-agent safeties

The Carolina Panthers probably won’t be hunting down some of the best safeties on the open market this offseason. Heck, they’re likely to depart with a pretty decent-sized name of their own.

Nonetheless, let’s wrap these rankings up and give you the top 12 safeties of free agency.

9 potential bargains for the Seahawks to target in free agency

Here are nine pending free agents who the Seahawks might be able to sign at a discount.

A while back we pinpointed 10 targets that we’d like to see the Seattle Seahawks target in free agency. Most of them were on the high end of salary projections, like edge rusher Brian Burns and interior defender Justin Madubuike. Realistically, Seattle may have to focus its attention on signing mid-level or low-end type free agents. Re-signing Leonard Williams is not going to come cheap, and they will also have to find room to bring back both Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks, to name a couple other pending free agents who are worth retaining.

Today, let’s focus on some potential bargains. Here are nine pending free agents who the Seahawks might be able to sign at a discount.

Twitter reacts to ridiculous ‘rumor’ about Seahawks’ interest in Mac Jones

10 safeties the Colts should target in free agency

Taking a look at some safety options for Indy in free agency.

There are plenty of question marks that surround the safety group for the Indianapolis Colts entering the 2024 offseason.

The first is whether Chris Ballard will re-sign Julian Blackmon. He’s the proven player of the group and if he does depart this offseason, then it would leave a glaring hole on the defense.

There is promise with Nick Cross but it’s a bet on his development this offseason while Rodney Thomas II has to rebound to how he performed his rookie season or he could be fighting for a roster spot.

With or without Blackmon on the roster, a veteran option should be considered by Ballard. The good news is that there is a quality group of safeties set to hit the market.

We should note that we understand a handful of these players won’t even hit the market, but we’re working under the hypothetical scenario that they become available, regardless of how slim the chances are.

If Chris Ballard decides to add to the position group via free agency, here are 10 players that the front office should target.

Full list of 2024 Panthers free agents

The Panthers currently have 26 players slated for free agency in 2024.

Things have changed a bit since the last time we brought you this free agent list.

A few weeks back, the Carolina Panthers held on to a few of their own—re-signing tight end Stephen Sullivan and defensive linemen Nick Thurman LaBryan Ray to fresh deals.

So, let’s take an updated look at the team’s pending 2024 free agents.

Jeremy Chinn surprised, frustrated over decreased role during 2023 season

Panthers S Jeremy Chinn thought he was going to have a bigger role this season.

Whenever he was asked about preparing a role for the versatile Jeremy Chinn throughout the offseason, Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero always kept his answer under wraps. And unfortunately for the fourth-year defensive back, he left it there.

Chinn, who didn’t see quite as much action as he would’ve liked in 2023, took some time out to chat during this morning’s move-out session. He was asked, by FOX Sports Radio’s Sheena Quick, if his decreased usage from this past season was a surprise.

“Yeah, it really was,” he replied. “I think that was the most frustrating part for me, personally. Coming into this season, I thought wasn’t gonna come off the field. I thought I was gonna have a huge role in this defense, and be able to leave a large impact. But as the season goes, things change. Definitely was a surprise the way things didn’t end up panning out.”

The former second-round pick was essentially an iron man for Carolina in his first three pro seasons. Chinn played in 97 percent of the team’s defensive snaps in 2020, 98.9 percent in 2021 and 90.7 percent in 2022.

2023, obviously, was a much different story—as that number dipped all the way down to 38.7 percent. While Chinn did miss five games due to a quad injury, there were only three outings where he appeared in at least half of his unit’s looks.

Chinn, who is slated to become a free agent, finished his campaign with career-lows in starts (eight) and tackles (30).

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