2026 Positional Spending Rankings: Safeties

By
Logan Ulrich
-

To help pass the time from now until the start of training camp, we’ll be looking at where every team ranks in positional spending. Next we have safeties. The league’s top safeties have done a better job of cashing in than several years ago when there was a tough ceiling on top of the market, and a solid middle class has also developed. However, this is still one of the positions teams turn to first when they need to cut costs and that’s reflected below. 

Antoine Winfield Jr.

One note: rather than count dead money toward the positional groups, we will have it ranked separately in a post of its own. For example, Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa‘s $55.4 million dead cap hit won’t count toward Miami’s quarterback spending, but it will be included in their league-leading $179 million dead cap figure. 

Here’s how the league’s safety rooms shake out from most expensive to least expensive: 

Resources:

1 – Los Angeles Chargers: $40,199,652

  • Percentage of total cap: 13.35 percent
  • 2025 rank: 1st
  • Top cap hit: Derwin James, $24,606,495 (8.17 percent)
  • Other notable cap hit: Elijah Molden, $7,916,666 (2.63 percent)
  • PFF grade: 65.7 (15th)
  • Starters: James*, Molden
  • Depth: Tony Jefferson, Genesis Smith, RJ Mickens
  • *safety/nickel

2 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $35,803,099

3 – Atlanta Falcons: $32,166,905

  • Percentage of total cap: 10.68 percent
  • 2025 rank: 4th
  • Top cap hit: Jessie Bates III, $24,770,000 (8.22 percent)
  • PFF grade: 68.5 (12th)
  • Starters: Bates, Xavier Watts
  • Depth: Sydney Brown, Demarcco Hellams

4 – Denver Broncos: $28,316,665

5 – New York Giants: $28,101,092

6 – Dallas Cowboys: $27,269,096

7 – Arizona Cardinals: $27,195,767

8 – Carolina Panthers: $26,601,892

  • Percentage of total cap: 8.83 percent
  • 2025 rank: 24th
  • Top cap hit: Trevon Moehrig, $21,270,000 (7.06 percent)
  • PFF grade: 62.4 (21st)
  • Starters: Moehrig, Nick Scott
  • Depth: Lathan Ransom, Zakee Wheatley

9 – Indianapolis Colts: $24,974,928

  • Percentage of total cap: 8.29 percent
  • 2025 rank: 18th
  • Top cap hit: Camryn Bynum, $15,010,000 (4.98 percent)
  • PFF grade: 65.4 (16th)
  • Starters: Bynum, A.J. Haulcy
  • Depth: Juanyeh Thomas, Hunter Wohler

10 – Los Angeles Rams: $24,495,775

11 – Washington Commanders: $24,390,196

12 – Baltimore Ravens: $21,459,041

13 – Las Vegas Raiders: $20,383,148

14 – Seattle Seahawks: $20,360,716

  • Percentage of total cap: 6.76 percent
  • 2025 rank: 26th
  • Top cap hit: Julian Love, $12,876,666 (4.28 percent)
  • PFF grade: 76.9 (2nd)
  • Starters: Love, Emmanwori*, Bud Clark
  • Depth: Ty Okada, Rodney Thomas
  • *safety/nickel

15 – Cincinnati Bengals: $19,967,463

16 – Tennessee Titans: $19,614,846

17 – Green Bay Packers: $17,766,802

18 – New England Patriots: $17,413,143

19 – Cleveland Browns: $17,328,716

  • Percentage of total cap: 5.75 percent
  • 2025 rank: 27th
  • Top cap hit: Grant Delpit, $8,033,000 (2.67 percent)
  • PFF grade: 69.1 (11th)
  • Starters: Delpit, Ronnie Hickman
  • Depth: Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, Daniel Thomas

20 – Detroit Lions: $17,158,104

21 – New York Jets: $16,800,844

22 – Pittsburgh Steelers: $16,543,482

23 – New Orleans Saints: $15,930,243

24 – Jacksonville Jaguars: $14,469,730

  • Percentage of total cap: 4.8 percent
  • 2025 rank: 14th
  • Top cap hit: Eric Murray, $4,233,137 (1.41 percent)
  • PFF grade: 74.5 (4th)
  • Starters: Murray, Antonio Johnson
  • Depth: Caleb Ransaw, Jalen Huskey, Rayuan Lane III

25 – Chicago Bears: $13,951,886

  • Percentage of total cap: 4.63 percent
  • 2025 rank: 12th
  • Top cap hit: Coby Bryant, $5,960,000 (1.98 percent)
  • PFF grade: 70.3 (9th)
  • Starters: Bryant, Dillon Thieneman
  • Depth: Cam Lewis, Elijah Hicks

26 – Minnesota Vikings: $13,113,792

27 – San Francisco 49ers: $12,893,985

28 – Buffalo Bills: $12,544,201

29 – Kansas City Chiefs: $11,427,350

  • Percentage of total cap: 3.79 percent
  • 2025 rank: 29th
  • Top cap hit: Chamarri Conner, $3,861,841 (1.28 percent)
  • PFF grade: 61.8 (23rd)
  • Starters: Alohi Gilman, Conner
  • Depth: Jaden Hicks, Chris Roland-Wallace

30 – Houston Texans: $11,419,056

31 – Miami Dolphins: $8,594,315

32 – Philadelphia Eagles: $8,475,694

  • Percentage of total cap: 2.81 percent
  • 2025 rank: 32nd
  • Top cap hit: Andrew Mukuba, $1,627,395 (0.54 percent)
  • PFF grade: 54.7 (30th)
  • Starters: Mukuba, Marcus Epps
  • Depth: Michael Carter II, Cole Wisniewski

Looking for the latest NFL Insider News & Rumors?

Be sure to follow NFL Trade Rumors on X.com and FACEBOOK for breaking NFL News and Rumors for all 32 teams!

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

Leave a Reply