When the Patriots entered the 2021 season without Stephon Gilmore on the field, they didn’t rush out to grab another cornerback to replace him. Rather, they rolled with Jalen Mills at outside cornerback, knowing Mills had the versatility to play any number of positions along the defense.
All in all, the veteran corner performed admirably as a fill-in on the outside, an area he struggled in with the Philadelphia Eagles at this start of his career before moving to safety.
Perhaps with Devin McCourty now retiring, Mills might be a top candidate to move back to safety and take over for the departing Patriots legend.
He especially seems to think he could handle that role change, tweeting on Monday, “Y’all know I really play safety right?”
Mills’ lone season as a primary safety in 2020 saw him post the best overall grade (68.9) and coverage grade (66.9) of his career per Pro Football Focus and arguably earned him his four-year contract with the Patriots as a secondary Swiss Army knife.
Though his role might be more of a do-it-all safety like Adrian Phillips and Kyle Dugger due to his ability to tackle and cover receivers in the slot, he also offers a slightly different body type and skill set to the other two safeties, who excel at playing in the box and thumping ball carriers.
With that in mind, Mills, not the newly re-signed Jonathan Jones, might actually be the best option to take over deep-field duties for New England if the team wants to stick with in-house candidates over signing someone like Jordan Poyer. Well, at least until the team drafts a rookie on Day 2 or 3 to learn and grow at the position.
Doing so would allow Jones, the team’s best cornerback, to keep playing that position either outside or in the slot and keeps Phillips and Dugger doing what they do best instead of pigeonholing one of them into a deep-safety role.
Many thought Mills would project best as a safety when he first arrived in Foxborough until injuries forced him elsewhere. Now, maybe it’s time to put him back at the position where he’s had his greatest success.
