After months of speculation, safety Darren Sharper is finally taking a free-agent visit, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting that he will be in Jacksonville today to meet with Jack Del Rio and the Jags.
A good fit? Yes, if you look at the current free safety situation in Jacksonville with Reggie Nelson — a player that has struggled to make plays down the field. And, that is the reason you bring in a guy like Sharper despite his age (34). As I talked about yesterday in discussing why USC’s Taylor Mays slipped to the second round, safeties that can make plays on the football are in high demand. The Jags, or any other team, can live with some missed tackles, because there is a payoff when Sharper is playing the middle of the field and jumping routes.
Schefter also mentioned that the Cowboys have some interest, as well. The Dallas 3-4 scheme is predicated on pressure, and to play a pressure style of defense at the NFL level you must have a player at safety that can get over the top of vertical routes and allow corners to funnel receivers to the middle of the field. That is a must for the Cowboys.
However, this could still be a classic case of Sharper trying to drive up his market value and entice the Saints to offer some more cash at the table. I’ve said before that the veteran safety is a perfect fit for Gregg Williams’ defense down in New Orleans, and I still believe that. He gets some freedom in that scheme — controlled freedom — that allows him to make those plays on the football.
Sharper is marketable and he does provide every NFL GM and coach with what you want from a free safety in the NFL. Turnovers are king — and you pay for turnovers.
From a player’s perspective, testing the market is a positive for any free agent, but when it comes to production, Sharper’s best play is still in New Orleans.
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As a long-time season ticket holder, I thank Sharp for helping the Saints win the SB last year. That said, I'm not sure I even care if he comes back. By late in the year he looked like he was really slowing down, and was essentially a non-factor in the playoffs. Could we really count on 9 more INTs from him this year ? Unlikely, considering 7 of his picks last year were off of five QBs who had less than 10 NFL starts COMBINED between them when they played the Saints.
Well, after all this, I'd be surprised to see DS back in NO. I'm not sure where he'd fit, I'm not sure how many years he's got left and I'm not sure how much $ he'd settle for, or demand.
All I know is how damn good he played last year.
If anything, he should finish out in NO, the team that believed in him in the 1st place.
What if we hadn't signed him last year???
His name had a low (or no) level of value on the market, and the Saints took a chance... and came up big! But for good reason! Look at the system he played in... and I know that's been mentioned 1000 times before, but it's TRUE. And he was only as good as he was when Jabari and Tracy were in.
Wherever he ends up, he better have pro bowl quality corners on both sides of him, or else he won't be going to the pro bowl next year, or any bowl for that matter... Sharper, alone, is no "savior" at this point for any team. If he leaves the Saints, they'll be fine w/out him.
If he stays, well, that'd be fine as well, and a classy move by him.
Have a good day-
PA
It was my expectation that the Saints would draft a young Taylor Mays and insert him into the same game plan. When Mays stock was falling it seemed like Greg Williams could take a player like that, and track the man to big success at this level. He has the physical tools to take what Darren did or does and assert his same presence into game play.
He could certainly learn a lot from him in any instance. He has a good veteran team mate to do that with at this time in Michael Lewis, another favorite player of mine.
I doubt Mays was ever really a consideration for the Saints. Once they took Patrick Robinson at #32, in my mind the hand-writing was on the wall -- they are ready to do what everyone has suspected all along: move Malcolm Jenkins to FS.
he better have pro bowl quality corners on both sides of him, or else he won't be going to the pro bowl next year, or any bowl for that matter...
Apr 28, 2010
12:24 PM
Before the draft I thought Dallas might go after Sharper but since they picked up Owusu-Ansah I'm not so sure. They drafted Mike Hamlin last year so that is two guys they need to get time for if they can beat out Alan Ball. Sharper will probably want playing time and a decent contract so it doesn't seem like a good fit now.