Cornerback is one of the more underrated needs in the NFL. A lot of teams have decent corners, but not very many teams have a complete secondar. A lot of the time when you talk about a team having a good secondary it’s more because of the fact that many have decent safeties rather than cornerback. Defensive backfields as a whole are relatively misunderstood by most NFL fans. With that said, there are some very good cornerbacks out there who may be chaning places so let’s take a peek at who’ll be on the line this year.
1. Cortland Finnegan – Titans
Finnegan is a hothead, a braggart and at times is a dirty player. He’s also one of the best corners in the league. Finnegan has alot of detractors, but a lot of them have a certain bias given Finnegan’s attitude. Fact is that he is a proven cover corner who can make tackles like a safety, which also makes him an asset in rush defense. Word is that Finnegan isn’t likely to get the long term contract from Tennessee that he wants, so expect to see him in new colors for 2012.
Possible landing spots: IND, STL, DET, MIN, NE, TB, JAC, CAR, MIA, BUF, SEA, DAL, GB
2. Brent Grimes – Falcons
Grimes has been a dominant corner in the past couple of seasons and has stolen the spotlight from his more heralded teammate Dunta Robinson. Now it’s time for him to get paid like it. Given that Robinson was given a $57 million contract when he was signed from free agency not too long ago, I doubt the Falcons will pay Grimes enough to convince him to stay. To do so would jeopardize their future contract plans at other positions. Expect Grimes to have a huge amount of interest from various teams around the NFL.
Possible landing spots: WAS, IND, STL, DET, OAK, MIN, NE, TB, PIT, JAC, CAR, MIA, BUF, SEA, DAL, GB
3. Carlos Rogers – 49ers
Many would suggest Rogers deserves to be higher on this list. I disagree for one reason – he’s had one year of good production after several of doing nothing in Washington. It was always thought that Rogers could be a great corner but he hasn’t emerged until this year. Rogers has expressed his wish for a long term contract but given his poor play in the past, expect teams to be a little cautious and for Rogers to get no more than a three year contract wherever he lands. Because of this, don’t be surprised if he returns to San Fran despite the 49ers having to give their top safety Dashon Goldson a new contract this offseason as well.
Possible landing spots: IND, STL, DET, MIN, NE, TB, JAC, CAR, OAK, MIA, BUF, SEA, DAL, GB
4. Terrell Thomas – Giants
Thomas is my pick as the best value of this free agency cornerback class. He showed in New York that he has all the tools to be a top corner in the NFL and you saw his discipline improve tenfold before his season ending injury in 2011. I expect Thomas’ to be relatively cheap compared to other corners and therefore the best pickup as he has the upside to be one of the very best. With that being said, I expect him to return to the Giants. Aaron Ross is also a free agent this year and the Giants already have Amukamara and Webster but Thomas will get the nod over Ross in this case.
Possible landing spots: NYG
5. Brandon Carr – Chiefs
Carr is another corner in this class who is going to get paid. He’s only 25, but he’s playing to a high level. The problem here is that he hasn’t yet shown an ability to work in tandem with teammates and this is a huge detriment to him as modern defensive scheme require a player to be able to work with his opposite corner and safeties. Because of this, teams may be reluctant to pay for him when he’d have to begin developing relationships and communication with brand new teammates. Because of this and the fact that Kansas City has indicated Carr is a candidate for the franchise tag, I believe Carr may remain with the Chiefs.
Possible landing spots: KC
6. Stanford Routt – Raiders
Routt was released yesterday by the Oakland Raiders despite having one of the biggest contracts in the NFL. Why? Because he didn’t earn his pay and was ill-disciplined — incurring the most penalties of any defensive player in the NFL. I expect interest for Routt to be high but for teams to be reluctant to give him a long term contract.
Possible landing spots: DET, MIN, NE, WAS, IND, STL, TB, JAC, CAR, MIA, BUF, SEA, DAL
Players to watch out for – Aaron Ross, Rashean Mathis, Tracy Porter, Richard Marshall
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