NFL
New York Giants Training Camp Preview: DB Jalen Mills
Veteran defensive back Jalen Mills has earned his stripes at the NFL level, and now he’s looking to bring that to the New York Giants’ young safeties group, which is in desperate need of experienced reinforcement.
Mills, a nine-year player out of LSU, entered the league as a seventh-round draft pick by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2016. He played with the franchise for 63 games over five seasons, notching three with over 61 tackles and adding 1.5 sacks, five interceptions, one forced fumble, and one defensive touchdown.
In 2021, Mills migrated to New England to begin three seasons with the Patriots. It was there that he began accepting snaps as a safety, splitting his reps between the box and free safety spots and doing some work in the slot.
Through the first eight years of his NFL career, Mills appeared in 106 games with 83 starts and tallied 405 tackles (313 solo), 53 pass breakups, seven interceptions, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. His recent campaigns have seen decent coverage ratings, including sub-60% opponent reception percentages and just eight touchdowns allowed.
With Xavier McKinney’s departure to the Green Bay Packers in free agency, the Giants have a slew of safeties under five years of professional experience. They like the strides that Dane Belton has made in his first two seasons as an understudy, but the jury is out on whether he earned the starting job.
They also have Tyler Nubin, their second-round draft pick, who is projected to get that starting role ultimately. And let’s also not forget the recent revelation that linebacker Isaiah Simmons is being slotted to play a hybrid safety role in this defense.
And at cornerback, Mills’ natural position, they have loaded up with veterans Tre Herndon and David Long Jr to help balance out the youth on the roster.
So where exactly does Mills fit in on this Giants roster?
Height: 6-0
Weight: 191 lbs.
Experience.: 9 Years
College: LSU
How Acquired: FA-24
Last season, Mills appeared in all 17 games for the Patriots, amassing 45 total tackles (26 solo), one pass deflection and one forced fumble. He earned a career-best 73.5 coverage rating and limited opponents to completions on 58.6 percent of their pass targets for 157 yards and no touchdowns, good for the second-best marking of his career.
The 2023 season was the first in which New England really forced the transition from a true cornerback to a versatile safety. Mills played his career-lowest 27 snaps at the corner position and then split 106 in the box, 136 in the slot, and 159 in the free safety hole.
Along with his work in coverage, Mills did a great job against the run with an 84.1 grade and a 14.8 percent missed tackle percentage. He also offered some light reps on the Patriots’ special teams units, but he only saw 21 total snaps of sprinkled action for kickoff coverage, punt return, and field goal blocking.
Mills signed a one-year deal on March 12 with an APY of $1,377,500. Mills’ contract carries a cap number of $1,152,500 and includes $467,500 in guaranteed money.
Thus, the Giants will be charged the $467,500 as a dead money hit if Mills doesn’t make the 53-man roster at the end of training camp but will save $685,000.
Mills’ contract is ranked 101 out of 342 active cornerbacks, per Over the Cap. That puts him in the top third of the position group.
The expectation is that Mills, Tyler Nubin, Gervarrius Owens, and Belton will compete for the starting safety role vacated by McKinney’s departure. The odds of all three making the roster to join Jason Pinnock don’t appear strong, as the revelation that the Giants plan to use linebacker Isaiah Simmons in their nickel package presumably eliminates the need to carry an extra safety on the roster.
Nubin and Belton should be roster locks, given they’re still on their rookie contract. Mills has value, given his experience, but the question might boil down to whether he would be willing to accept a spot on the practice squad if the Giants roll with the youth movement of Pinnock, Belton, and Nubin as their pure safeties, and Simmons as the hybrid.
As for cornerback, again, the Giants have David Long Jr and Tre Herndon among their veteran options, though again it seems like the Giants are leaning toward the youth movement at that spot.
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