The safety market in NFL free agency is moving very quickly, but free agent Jairus Byrd is taking a more measured approach. His first visit will be with the New Orleans Saints, per multiple reports.
Bills free-agent S Jairus Byrd is on his way to New Orleans to visit the Saints, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 11, 2014
New Orleans had not been previously linked to Byrd over the last several days. The Saints are perennial playoff contenders with Sean Payton and Drew Brees leading the charge, and their defense is coached by Rob Ryan, who employs the same type of aggressive defense that Byrd excelled in under Mike Pettine last year with the Buffalo Bills.
As of Monday evening, Overthecap.com (via Rotoworld) calculated that the Saints had just $2.7 million in cap room, so one would figure that if they're seriously interested in signing Byrd, they'll need to free up some space to do so. Paired with second-year pro Kenny Vaccaro, Byrd would give the Saints a truly excellent pair of safeties.
Meanwhile, as Byrd schedules a visit, many teams have moved quickly to sign safeties. Miami signed Louis Delmas on Monday. Today's list of safety transactions include (so far): Chicago signing Ryan Mundy; Cleveland signing Donte Whitner; Denver signing T.J. Ward; Philadelphia signing Malcolm Jenkins; Pittsburgh signing Mike Mitchell; and San Francisco signing Antoine Bethea.