Cornerbacks fill one of the strongest positions still available in free agency, with a couple of legitimate young stars on the street that have had their careers derailed by injuries. Here’s my picks for the five best cornerbacks still available.
Trumaine McBride, Cornerback, New York Giants
2015: 23 tackles, one forced fumble, four passes defended, three interceptions, one defensive touchdown, Age 30
McBride has started a total of 21 games in his eight-year career, so the interception numbers he’s put up over the pass three years (five) and passes defended (20) in 36 games isn’t too bad at all. McBride is what he is, a quality back-up who’s worth the money to have on your team as a reserve and nickle corner.
McBride can be had on the cheap, probably around $1 million a year if not less. For teams needing corner depth, you could do a lot worse than him. Best fits: Indianapolis Colts, Baltimore Ravens, Miami Dolphins
Chris Culliver, Cornerback, Washington Redskins
2015: 13 tackles, one pass defended, Age 27
Ignore the numbers from last season. Culliver is the quintessential big-money free agent acquisition who immediately gets hurt and is out for the season. The Redskins figured they did pretty good without him so they sent him packing this offseason, taking a $3.75 million cap hit to do it.
But Culliver is a young, good player that just had some bad luck on his first big contract. He won the starting job in San Francisco in 2012 before the season was over, then tore his ACL and missed all of 2013. He came back in 2014 recording 38 tackles, 15 passes defended, one forced fumble, one fumble return for a touchdown and four interceptions. Which is why the Redskins signed him int he first place. Culliver has had some bad luck, but if he’s healthy, he deserves a job. Best fits: San Francisco 49ers, Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints
Cortez Allen, Cornerback, Pittsburgh Steelers
2015: Three tackles, Age 27
Allen is another talented young player coming of a hard-luck couple of seasons. From 2014-2015 Allen played just 12 games and last year it was just one, so you can hardly blame the Steelers for cutting him loose, even though it cost them $4 million in dead cap space.
What you need to look at with Allen is what he did when he was healthy. As a nickle in his second year in the league he had 43 tackles, 10 passes defended, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and two picks. The next year he took over a starter after the season started and put up similar numbers, 44 tackles, 13 passes defended, two picks and one return for a touchdown. Allen is young and was a budding star before his injury issues made him too expensive to keep. He can recapture that magic with a new team. Best fits: Seattle Seahawks, Kansas City Chiefs, New York Jets
Leon Hall, Cornerback, Cincinnati Bengals
2015: 44 tackles, eight passes defended, two interceptions, one return for a touchdown, Age 31
Hall moved into a reserve role for the Benglas last season and thrived, playing all three primary cornerback positions as well as strong safety when the team needed him to. Hall was in the final year of his big-money contract, a four-year, $39 million deal he signed in 2011 and earned the $9.6 million he made in 2015. He just isn’t going to make anything close to that in 2016.
But there’s no doubt that Hall can still play and be an asset to a defense. Because he can play every position and isn’t afraid to play close to the line as a strong safety, it should make him an easy signing when teams figure out their defensive backfields are weaker than they’d hoped during training camp. Best fits: Los Angeles Rams, Indianapolis Colts, Dallas Cowboys
Antonio Cromartie, Cornerback, New York Jets
2015: 26 tackles, 12 passes defended, one fumble recovery. Age 32
Last year was the first season Cromartie did record any interceptions. In fact, it’s the first season he didn’t have at least two. His return to the Jets didn’t work out as well as he and his 172 kids hoped, so he’s back on the market. Cromartie’s problem is he’s almost too good to sign for most teams. He’d probably be better than at least one of the corners you want to start and develop.
He signed a four-year contract with the Jets last offseason, collected $7 million of it and was sent packing this offseason with nary a cap hit at all. That’s a nice little contract the Jets came up with. Cromartie has value, but a lot like Dwight Freeney at outside linebacker, he’ll probably be on his couch until a team gets desperate around Week three. Best fits: Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Diego Chargers
