3 Free Agent alternatives if LA Rams fail to re-sign JJ III

Jets safety

The first free agent to kick the tires on is safety Mathias Farley currently leaving the New York Jets. He showed delightful promise in his first three seasons with the Indianapolis Colts. Unfortunately, that upward trending development fell off a cliff in the past two seasons with the New York Jets.

Farley was an undrafted rookie who signed on with the Arizona Cardinals in 2016 after a promising collegiate career at Notre Dame. The 5-foot-11 209-pound safety earned a starting role with the Colts in his sophomore season, when he started 15 games and racked up 98 tackles and two interceptions.  Since that season, he has been a rotational player for both the Colts and the Jets.

Despite his center field positioning and rotational duties, he has been solid in pass coverage. In fact, in the past three seasons, he has allowed just 13 completions of the 27 passes thrown his way.  While he needs to improve his tackling, there is no flaw in his coverage game.

And despite a rotational role, he was instrumental in the leadership of a team that did not experience a win until the Jets faced the Rams in week 15. In that game, he played on special teams are recorded a tackle. He was a solid mentor for the young defensive backs and was a ‘glue guy’ for the secondary that was under a lot of adversity and new faces.

Farley is coming off a $1.1 million and should be signed for under a million. Even if you consider him an orange safety cone, he is worth having on the roster to help coach up younger players. He is also a productive contributor to special teams. But the reality is that he is not just a pylon, but is a solid pass defender who is the right price and has some huge upside on the Rams defense.