New Orleans Saints Offseason Preview: Is the team safe at safety?
By Tony Twillie
Are the New Orleans Saints “safe” at safety? A look into the Vonn Bell situation and at the safety spot for the Saints.
The New Orleans Saints safety situation is not one of unconscionable urgency, but there are some major issues to be answered.
As with so many other positions on the Saints roster, a lot of things are going to fall in place after Drew Brees’ deal gets completed. The Brees deal, fortunately and unfortunately, may determine the rest of the roster valuation.
Currently the Saints have four rostered safeties. At the free safety spot, Marcus Williams is the starter, with Saquan Hampton as his backup. At strong safety we have Chauncey Gardner-Johnson and J.T. Gray.
Notably absent from that “current” list is Vonn Bell. Bell just completed his fourth season in the NFL and will be an unrestricted free agent unless the Saints get a deal done for him before the new league season begins next week.
Bell was part of the strong 2016 Saints draft class that included Michael Thomas, Sheldon Rankins and David Onyemata.
Bell stepped in as a rookie and immediately made an impact. He appeared in every game his first three seasons in the league and only injuries kept him out of three games this past season. His tackle numbers have been very consistent, having over 80 tackles each season.
Bell forces and recovers fumbles pretty well and is a solid in the box defender. He also gets into the backfield, having eight sacks and 14 total tackles for losses.
The book on Bell shows that he isn’t a top pass defender. The role of the strong/in the box safety is normally more a run support/short passing game role, but Bell’s pass defense has been a bit suspect.
He has only one interception in his four Saints seasons, and 14 passes defensed total. Free safety Marcus Williams had one less than that just this past season alone. Let’s look at Bell’s future a bit closer.