Top 25 Remaining Free Agents

The list of free agents still available in June is remarkable. It would compare favorably to the starting lists of some years. Maybe. Sure, most of the big names are past their primes. Adrian Peterson and Dez Bryant stand out in that regard. There are still some solid players coming off of a productive year. The talent available at one particular position is perhaps the best it's ever been in the free agent market. What is up with the safeties?

Here's a ranking of the Top-25 free agents available. There are players here that can help some teams.

Rank Player Pos. Age 1 Eric Reid S 26 2 Jonathan Hankins DT 26 3 Bashaud Breeland WR 26 4 Junior Galette Edge 30 5 Kenny Vaccaro S 27 6 Tre Boston S 26 7 NaVorro Bowman LB 30 8 Jeremy Maclin WR 30 9 Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie CB 32 10 Delvin Breaux CB 28 11 Adrian Peterson RB 33 12 Dez Bryant WR 29 13 Robert Ayers DE 32 14 DeMarco Murray RB 30 15 Mike Mitchell S 31 16 Tyvon Branch S 31 17 Corey Graham S 33 18 Eric Decker WR 31 19 T.J. Ward S 31 20 Dontrelle Inman WR 29 21 Luke Joekel G 26 22 Kayvon Webster CB 27 23 Alfred Morris RB 29 24 Ron Parker S 31 25 Orleans Darkwa RB 26

Bashaud Breeland probably won't be on this list much longer. His is an unusual free agency story. He signed a deal with the Carolina Panthers early in the process. He was then released from that deal when he failed his physical. He failed that physical due to an infection from a cut suffered in a non-football injury. Interested teams have just been waiting for him to heal.

The safeties. Nearly a third of the above players are safeties. Eric Reid, Kenny Vaccaro, and Tre Boston are in the middle of their prime. The oldest of the group, Corey Graham, was one of the most important players on the Philadelphia Eagles defense last year. Analysts can explain away the various limitations that each has in their game as reasons for being unsigned. The bottom line is that all of the safeties on this list can help teams. Perhaps some or all are asking for elite-safety numbers but I doubt it. That's just another excuse to explain a situation that really can't be explained. In my opinion, and I'm not alone, Reid is unsigned for the same reason that Colin Kaepernick is banned from the field. He has a social conscious and he speaks and acts on it. He's also filed a collusion suit against the league. That likely cements his unsigned status. Which, in turn, likely strengthens his case against the league. The San Francisco 49ers recently signed safety Antone Exum. I can't imagine a football world in which I'd rather have Exum over Reid, Vaccaro, or Boston. Or any of the above safeties. The safety free agent situation makes no sense.

Jonathan Hankins without a team is nearly as surprising as all the safeties.

There's still over a month before training camps open. Maybe opportunities will arise for some of the above.