It's more than possible that (unfortunately) our safety core may be improved via the draft and a low level castoff/cut FA signing.
We'd then go into the season with:
--Chung
--McCourty for subs ?
--low level vet/maybe even a chance on a guy like Dawkins/Landry or similar
--Ihedigbo as a 4th safety/situational guy
--high draft pick (first 2 rounds) to battle it out with the vet pickup
(probably a 5-6 safety, since DMcC will be classified as a CB still--that would be a guy like Barrett/Brown etc)
It may not be ideal, it actually may look pathetic to many; but the bottom line is that the position should still be improved. We saw it improved a bit as the season went on.
The improvements would be hopefully made by:
--another yr of McCourty's knowledge at the position, even though he would only be rotational and probably wouldn't play in 'all' sub-packages. Regardless, he should improve over his play there last year
--a young rookie for speed, depth, and competition. It may take a full yr before any kind of contribution is truly made that is very beneficial
--a vet who has some of the qualities that BB will look for, even though it won't be the big name that we'd hoped for. Our coach will likely be looking for decent value here, and feel as though the said player is an upgrade at the position
--another yr of knowledge and improvement from Ihedigbo, if he returns. While we wasn't anything spectacular, he filled in decently at times as an average JAG role player. What we don't wanna see is his presence on most downs. Either way, it may not be a huge stretch to think that he can get better with a full off-season, mini-camps/TC and improved cohesion with the unit and Belichick
--Guys like Barrett and Brown etc are wild-cards, but there must have been something that BB liked about them in the first place
I suppose to wrap it up, it's still possible to make an improvement at the position without the kind of guy that most are assuming for whatever reason, that we'd get. Personally, I wasn't too sure that a guy like Griffen or Goldson would end up here, so it would be as much of a let-down for me personally.
All in all, one of the big name FA guys would be great, but they all have their pluses and minuses, so we'll have to trust Belichick in this case. It can't be as bad as it was last yr, and they should have won the SB.