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The safety saw his performance slide with New Orleans after being elite in Buffalo, but he still had value.
(Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
(Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
- Free agent safety Jairus Byrd, formerly of the Saints and Bills, will work out for the San Francisco 49ers on Tuesday, according to Adam Schefter.
- San Francisco currently has three safeties on its roster drafted in the top-50 selections, with former first-rounders Eric Reid and Jimmie Ward and second-rounder Jaquiski Tartt. However, the 49ers lack depth at the free safety position. Ward is transitioning to free safety after spending his first three NFL seasons at cornerback and Reid and Tartt are expected to play primarily in the box in San Francisco’s new defensive scheme.
- Byrd never quite performed at the elite level he was at during his final three seasons in Buffalo that led to a massive free-agent contract in New Orleans, but has posted solid 75.6 and 78.1 overall grades in the past two seasons.
- Byrd’s calling card in Buffalo was his ability to get his hands on the football, but he recorded just two interceptions and zero pass breakups on 31 targets in coverage. He ranked 62nd among 85 safeties with at least 15 targets with a career-low 6.5 percent Playmaker Index score, which measures how often a player gets his hands on the ball per target in coverage.
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