Broncos free agency target: Julian Love

Ah, offseason — or what I like to call “free agency season.” Here we have a quick glance at New York Giants safety Julian Love, who is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent next month.

We already have fantastic talent in Justin Simmons, as well as Caden Sterns and Kareem Jackson.

With Sterns’ hip injury that ruled him out of the remainder of the 2022 season, and with P.J. Locke becoming a [restricted] free agent this year, should we add some depth to the safety position?

Background

Originally from Westchester, Illinois, Julian Love played for and graduated from Notre Dame, receiving a consensus All-American distinction in 2018 when he broke the school’s record for career pass break-ups.

Love has just finished his fourth year since being drafted by the New York Giants in the fourth round (108th overall) of the 2019 Draft. Although he was primarily a backup for his first three years, he did start 5, 6, and 5 games respectively in 2019, 2020, and 2021.

He became a regular starter in 2022, recording two interceptions, a sack, and 124 tackles (combination of solos and assists).

All in, all, his career has seen 64 games, five interceptions, and 87 interception return yards.

Where he fits

My opinion on this is coming from a bias toward our current secondary, so I’m not the best filter to read through when it comes to Love. The Denver Broncos’ safety room is something I’m admittedly a little touchy about ahead of free agency, largely because I worry about the possibility of another major asset — namely Justin Simmons, who was ranked by Pro Football Network as the 5th best safety in the league last year — getting traded away for draft capital. This is not to say we can’t sign on more safeties, but it just depends on which pieces they’d be moving around to make it happen.

I would not jump up to make Love a starter on our already-elite secondary, given that his stats and experience don’t yet stack up to the pros we already have, but an argument could be made for adding Love as an option at depth.

What do you think Denver needs to do in their safety room this year? What about the defense as a whole? Do you see any pieces that need to be moved around or players we should sign?