2026 NFL free agency preview: With starters hurting, Lions could use insurance at safety
The NFL’s negotiating window for pending free agents opens on March 9, and players will be eligible to sign with new teams on March 11 at 4 p.m.
Ahead of those dates, we’ll preview each position, looking at the top options expected to hit the market, the Detroit Lions’ pending free agents, plus three outside players who could be fits.
Today, we’ll be looking at the safeties.
Quick overview
Detroit’s safety situation is a harsh reminder of how quickly things change in the NFL.
Entering last offseason, it wasn’t difficult to make the case that the Lions had the best safety tandem in the league. A year later, 2024 first-team All-Pro Kerby Joseph faces lingering concerns about whether an uncooperative knee issue that ruined his 2024 season will be career-altering. And Brian Branch will be working his way back from a torn Achilles, a devastating injury that often saps explosiveness.
Joseph’s contract is structured in a way that the Lions could bail after this season, if his fortunes don’t reverse course. Meanwhile, Branch is entering the final year of his rookie deal. The Lions have made it clear they want to sign him to an extension, but it wouldn’t be surprising for his injury to impact negotiations.
In terms of depth, Thomas Harper, a late August waiver claim, stepped in an performed above expectation. Additionally, Dan Jackson, a seventh-round draft pick from a year ago, should be mended after missing his rookie season, putting him in position to compete for a roster spot.
But there’s a strong sentiment that the Lions need more to navigate the uncertainty they face with their starters.
Top players available
Bryan Cook
A second-round pick out of Cincinnati in 2022, Cook is ultra versatile, logging more than 100 snaps in the box, slot and aligned deep last season. He plays the run with ferocity, is a sure-tackler and has steadily improved in coverage over the course of his four-year career.
Coby Bryant
Primarily the deep safety in Seattle’s Cover-3-heavy scheme, Bryant intercepted seven passes across the past two seasons and is impactful coming downhill against the run.
Nick Cross
The Colts felt comfortable lining up Cross all over the field, but he spent a greater percentage of his snaps in the box or on the line of scrimmage in his first year playing in Lou Anarumo’s defensive scheme.
Cross will be just 25 years old when next season starts. The six-foot, 212-pounder is a tackle machine, racking up 266 stops across the past two seasons. He also showcased an ability to blitz under Anarumo in 2025, tallying 16 pressures and 2.5 sacks on 60 rushes.
Kam Curl
Viewed as one of the top safeties as a free agent two years ago, Curl struggled to find a suitor, settling for a modest two-year deal from the Rams. It proved to be a bargain as the young safety continued to shine in a versatile role.
Curl is coming off a career year, finishing with 122 tackles, 2.0 sacks and two interceptions.
Kevin Byard
Byard will be 33 years old when the season opens, but he’s coming off another season of elite ball production, pacing the NFL with seven interceptions and earning first-team All-Pro honors for the third time. The ball-hawking centerfielder has now snagged 36 picks in his career.
Detroit’s pending free agents
Avonte Maddox
Through the first 12 games of the 2025 season, Maddox logged fewer than 70 defensive snaps. But after Branch went down, the experienced veteran steadied the ship in the back end, recording 22 tackles and four pass breakups across the final four contests.
It’s easy to envision the sides extending the marriage another season.
Daniel Thomas
A longtime special teams standout, Thomas was added to the roster just before the season to bolster those units. Hampered by a broken hand and wrist in 2025, Thomas appeared in 12 games and logged 233 snaps on special teams. He was also called upon to play 111 defensive snaps late in the season, his largest workload since 2021.
Jalen Mills
Claimed off waivers in December, Mills appeared in three games for the Lions, including defensive snaps in the final two games of the season. A 10-year veteran, the converted cornerback was presumably a patchwork solution and unlikely to be a priority re-signing this offseason.
Potential outside fits
Chuck Clark
After spending the first six years of his career in Baltimore, Clark could be looking for his fourth team in as many seasons if he doesn’t re-up with the Steelers.