Eric Berry is getting passed over by other safeties

The New York Giants are visiting with other free agent safeties and not Eric Berry as they prepare the roster for training camp.

It’s been tough for free agent safeties in general to find meaningful work over the last couple offseasons. Proven performers, even younger ones, have been forced to take cheap or single-year deals as teams around the National Football League have somehow deemed the position as unimportant and not worth the investment of serious money.

This year, with some teams already at training camp, several recognizable players remain available for the position including the likes of Tre Boston, Eric Berry, Glover Quin, Mike Mitchell, and Jonathan Cyprien. Yet even among the overlooked, Berry is falling further behind the other available vets, as illustrated by Tuesday’s news that the New York Giants were safety shopping.

Ian Rapoport broke the news that Boston was visiting the Giants as a free agent on Monday, while Adam Schefter noted that they were doing the same with Cyprien. That’s two veterans being given a chance to work out and show what they can do before camp gets moving. That’s good news for one of them, but it shows just how far the former Chiefs safety has fallen, a player who was recently the highest paid at his position and seemingly on a Hall of Fame trajectory.

It’s possible that Berry isn’t yet healthy. If so, it might be the player himself who is refusing visits. When Berry is healthy, his history should allow him to count on considerable interest from teams curious about his ability to return to form. But the reality about safeties is that each of the aforementioned options should have already been signed. None of these veterans should beg for work given how much they have left in the tank and their body of work to this point.

If Berry is available for a free agent visit, it’s surprising to see him sit behind Cyprien and Boston who themselves should already be employed. Safety is already a hard position to figure but Berry’s inability to generate interest makes things even more troubling.