Safety Adrian Amos would be an excellent addition to the Broncos secondary.
The Broncos will likely move on from veteran Darian Stewart this offseason opening up a starting position on the back end of their defense. One name who is currently expected to hit the free agent market and could fill that starting role is Bears safety, Adrian Amos.
Player profile:
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 214lbs
Age: 25
Experience: 4 years
Amos played four seasons at Penn State and had himself a solid career for the Nittany Lions defense. During his four-year career at Penn State, Amos totaled 148 tackles, 9 tackles for a loss, 3 sacks, 7 interceptions, and 15 pass deflections.
His college career earned him an invite to the Reese’s Senior Bowl where he performed well in front of scouts, GM’s, and coaches. Amos ended up going in the 5th round of the 2015 NFL Draft to the Chicago Bears with their 142nd overall pick.
Amos went from a day three, 5th round selection to a 16 game starter for the Bears defense his rookie season. He has since become a regular in their secondary by starting a total of 56 regular season games for the Bears the past four seasons. During that four-year career, Amos has totaled 235 tackles, 2 sacks, 19 pass deflections, 3 interceptions, 1 defensive touchdown, and 3 forced fumbles.
Adrian Amos played more snaps in coverage than any other safety – and finished with the 8th-highest grade at the position. pic.twitter.com/z9DHaK8Ucj
— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) January 29, 2019
According to Pro Football Focus, Amos was given an 82.7 overall grade which ranked him as the 8th best safety in the NFL in 2018. They also ranked Amos as their 11th best free agent this upcoming free agency period.
Amos has been one of the most consistent safeties in the NFL, as his 85.5 and 89.5 coverage grades the past two seasons have ranked among the top 10 at the position both years. Amos isn’t the playmaker that teammate Eddie Jackson is, but he has been extremely sound on the back end.
With former Bears Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio and Defensive Backs coach Ed Donatell now in Denver it is safe to assume that Amos is a favorite to land with the Broncos this offseason.
Why it makes sense:
Well, Vic Fangio(the Bears former Defensive Coordinator) and Ed Donatell(the Bears former Defensive Backs coach) both now coach for the Broncos. Also, the Broncos are most likely going to release veteran starting safety Darian Stewart this offseason. So you have a player entering free agency who has ties with the newly hired coaching staff and a starting position open at safety a position Amos plays.
It’s a pretty simple deduction that there will likely be mutual interest between both sides if Amos hits free agency.
The Broncos as we all unfortunately know, have struggled to cover the tight end for years. If they add Amos to the back end of their defense, that struggle could easily become a strength for them since Amos is considered one of the top cover safeties in the game.
Another strength of Amos is his versatility. Fangio used him at both safety roles in Chicago and I would imagine he would do the same with him if he signs with the Broncos. He would also help the safeties/secondary learn the basics of Fangio’s system quicker as well so that’s another positive.
It just makes too much sense not to happen. The only thing that could throw a wrench into this is money.
Why this doesn’t make sense:
Franchise Tag, re-signing and asking price. Those are the only three things I can really come up with here.
They could decide to keep Amos for at least one more year by applying the Franchise Tag on him. This would allow them to work on an extension to lock up their young stud safety for many years to come.
They could also simply re-sign Amos before or shortly after Free Agency begins. They have Bryce Callahan and Eddie Jackson to pay in the present and near future so they may view Amos expendable here.
Finally, the price tag. I’ll say this for just about every free agent. Elway draws a line in the sand and is known as a tough negotiator so you never know how these things work out. Also, keep in mind that the safety market was weird last season so it will be interesting to see how it plays out again this upcoming offseason.
Outside of that, I have nothing for you.
Final thoughts:
I have been fairly clear about my stance on Amos in this article. He’s a top safety in the league, he’s still young, and he’s a very realistic option for the Broncos for many reasons(Coaching, connections, need, and a likely open starting safety role). If there is mutual interest on both sides and they can agree on compensation, I believe this can get done fairly quickly.
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