Whether you’re looking for a mattress topper or NFL supplements, you get what you pay for.The Green Bay Packers made a small investment in their 2023 safety corps. After activating the fifth-year option on safety Darnell Savage the previous offseason, the Packers re-signed Rudy Ford and Dallin Leavitt, added Jonathan Owens to one-year contract extensions and drafted Anthony Johnson in the seventh round.In a surprising turn of events, the Packers safety corps has been mediocre all season. Leavitt was benched midseason for a stupid penalty, and there’s at least a chance Savage, Ford or Owens won’t be back in 2024. Below is a season-ending report with numbers based on player impact against the salary cap. Darnell SavageMaximum in 2023: $2,444,200. Ranking by position: No. 51 according to OverTheCap.com. Savage played on a fifth-year option worth $7.9 million. To help with the calculations, the team added a four-year cooling-off period to the end of the transaction.
So Savage had little cover. But the dead money amounts to about $5.5 million. Savage was an All-Rookie as a first-round pick in 2019 and had four interceptions and 12 pass breakups in a strong sophomore season. However, his career took a downward turn. In 10 games (all starts) in 2023, he had zero interceptions and one pass defensed. Yes, a pass defended. He had a vital No. 6 pick in a playoff win at Dallas, but had a combination of first-round instincts, smarts and athleticism, but gave up a potential No. 1 pick. 6 and was at least partially responsible for his long landing. pass to George … Kittle in a playoff loss at Dallas.The only consistent thing about his game is his approach. And that means bad approach. His hit-and-run approach is to run as fast as possible and throw his shoulder into the ball carrier’s feet. He finished seventh on the team with 50 tackles, but lost to the long throw of Christian McCaffrey in the playoffs.According to PFF, he has 12 missed tackles, which equates to a missed tackle rate of 18.5%. Of his 95 snaps on defense during the regular season, his sack percentage ranked 85th, tying his career mark of 17.6%. PFF graded him 13 of 16 passing for just 113 yards.
His coverage grade of 23.1 ranks 39th per reception. Savage is a great teammate heading into free agency. Are the Packers happy with the move or intrigued by his potential in a new defense? If the price is right and the new coaching staff believes they can teach Savage some rudimentary grappling skills, the answer could be yes.Grade: D-minus. rudy fordMax 2023: $1,500,000 Ranking: #70 according to OverTheCap.com. Ford appeared in 13 games with nine starts. He ranked sixth on the team with 68 tackles, tied for a team high with two of his seven tackles, and tied for third with six passes defensed. In two years, Ford had five interceptions.According to PFF, among 92 safeties who have played at least 200 snaps, Ford ranks seventh with 36.4 tackles for loss and is tied for first with a passer rating of 30.1. According to PFF, Ford completed just 9 of 22 passes for 88 yards and a touchdown. With over 300 total saves and 95 saves, he ranked 14th in save percentage at 8.1% (six shutouts). These are all very good. However, it was Ford who ignored the starting line-up and was eliminated.Simply put, Ford played 68 more snaps, made 18 more tackles, had 6 fewer turnovers, had 2 more interceptions and had 5 more passes defensed than Savage. Grade: B-minus.Jonathan OwensBy 2023: $1,010,000. Ranking by position: No. 95 according to OverTheCap.com.Owens started 17 games for Houston in 2022 and lived up to his scouting profile as a consistent defender but not a playmaker. In 17 games, including 11 straight starts to end the season, he finished with 74 tackles, fifth on the team. He had zero interceptions, three passes defensed, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery touchdown. Joe Barry had the only sack of the safeties because he didn’t think about hitting one of the safeties once a week.PFF graded Owens 22-of-33 (66.7%) passing for 221 yards. They were all the worst on the team. However, among 95 safeties who played at least 200 coverage snaps, he ranked 55th in receptions per reception (19.8) and 75th in passer rating (115.8). He gave up three touchdowns. Ford gave up his only touchdown among the saves. Among 92 defenses with at least 300 total tackles, he ranks 28th in missed tackle percentage (9.2%, seven missed). With ten special teams tackles, Owens trails only Eric Wilson’s eleven.Note: C-plus. Zane Anderson2023 Max: $940,000 Ranking: 102nd by OverTheCap.com. Anderson was waived by Buffalo at the end of training camp and missed the first seven games of the season with an injury. Over the past 10 games, he has played 127 snaps on special teams and recorded four tackles. His only defensive snap came near the end of a playoff game in Dallas. Things were not going well. But no one was better. The Packers hoped Anderson could be a weapon on special teams. He had his good moments, but not enough. His contract runs until 2024.Class: D. Anthony Johnson2023 CAP: 770.941 USD. Congratulations: exthecap.com 131, exthecast.com.
Johnson was a non-factor to start the season, but injuries kept him out of the Week 9 opener against the Rams. Highlighted by a diving break, it was a great debut. But he rarely played in the regular season with the charger, Lions and Panda. He finished the season with a single interception, three passes and 23 approaches. He has one hit and has 57 strikeouts, 32nd on the team.
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