Las Vegas Raiders: 10 free agent safeties to target
Dallas Cowboys. Xavier Woods. 6. player. 123. . Safety
In what seems to be a theme of this list, Xavier Woods is a safety that can line up all over the field for defense. Listed officially as a free safety, Woods has played in the slot a great deal for the Dallas Cowboys and is comfortable in either safety position.
Woods came to the NFL as an underrated sixth-round pick out of Louisiana Tech and quickly found his place with the Cowboys after his rookie season. Woods has been a starter for three years now after being mostly a role player his first year and has been one of the impact players on a decent Dallas defense.
Woods doesn’t have the interception numbers that some of the other players do with just 5 in 48 starts but he would be a cheaper option than players like Justin Simmons or John Johnson. He is also not as talented to be completely fair but is still young and can grow into the role as he enters his prime.
PFF predicts that Woods will get a deal in the $6 million per year range which could be right in the sweet spot for a Raiders team that is up against the cap. The prospect of finding a starting free safety for that number could really intrigue Mike Mayock but the Raiders may decide to just start LaMarcus Joyner in that role if the best they can do is bring an above-average but not a great player like Woods in.