I lot of teams in this league looking for safety help and there is Ivebeenaho, still a free agent.
Is he injured or was he that bad for us, that no one is taking a chance on him?
Ihedigbo was originally signed as a special teams ace; the fact that he played safety seemed to be almost an after thought. The Patriots already have some players in that role (Slater, White, Koutouvides, etc.) that ouperformed him on ST in 2011.
As for the safety position the coaching staff got a look at what Ihedigbo could do there if he was forced onto the field and we all saw the result. Although he was good on special teams he wasn't the second coming of Steve Tasker, Larry Izzo or Larry Whigham, so there's not much incentive to rush right out there and sign him. Constantly being out of position coupled with consistently getting hurt is a troublesome combination.
Malcolm Williams got promoted to the 53-man roster at the end of the year and can also contribute on special teams; he too is most likely a better depth option than Ihedigbo. Josh Barrett is another guy that seems injury prone (back-to-back seasons on IR, though he did play in five games last year) that the Pats coaching staff seems to have more faith in. Ross Ventrone and Bret Locket are other options at the bottom of the roster. As much as none of us care for Sergio Brown he may actually be a preferable alternative to Ihedigbo.
There are plenty of options available for the #4 and #5 safety on the depth chart even without Ihedigbo. I think other teams have seen the tape on him and have come to the conclusion that his ceiling at safety is relatively low, and they're not really motivated to sign a special teams-only player that is always hurt.
As far as the Pats are concerned they still need an upgrade at safety. That would give them a primary rotation of Chung, Gregory and (day one or two draft pick), with backup depth coming from two of Williams, Barrett, Brown, Ventrone, Lockett, and whomever else they might bring in to training camp.
