Dan Graziano, senior NFL national reporter 9y

Tom Coughlin says Giants have 'concern' at safety

PHOENIX -- At this point in the offseason, the New York Giants have nothing but question marks at the safety position. All three players who started games for them at safety in 2014 became free agents. One of those three, Antrel Rolle, has signed with the Chicago Bears. The Giants have not re-signed Stevie Brown, Quintin Demps or any other safety on the market, and at this point the only safeties on their roster are their two most recent fifth-round draft picks -- Nat Berhe and Cooper Taylor.

"That's an issue, no doubt," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said at the NFL owners meetings Wednesday. "We do have one more access to bringing in personnel, obviously, the draft. And we have a couple of guys in the program including Berhe, who we really liked as a rookie and a special-teamer. We have injured players coming back that can help. But there's concern, no doubt."

Taylor played only on special teams as a rookie in 2013 and then missed the entire 2014 season due to a foot injury that required surgery, so they don't know what they have in him. Berhe played almost exclusively on special teams as a rookie in 2014 but got a couple of late looks as a free safety.

"I think he can come down in the box, too," Coughlin said of Berhe. "His special-teams play would lead you to believe that. We threw him into a lot of responsibility on special teams and I thought he handled it well. So he's adaptable, he's smart, he's anxious and he's eager for the opportunity, for sure."

It remains possible that the Giants could re-sign Brown and/or Demps, but to this point there has been little movement on those fronts as both players are still hunting for better offers. Coughlin also raised the possibility of converting one of the Giants' cornerbacks to safety. Candidates for that would include Chykie Brown and 2014 sixth-round pick Bennett Jackson, who also is recovering from injury.

The top safety in the draft is Alabama's Landon Collins, though most projections seem to consider him a reach at No. 9 overall, which is the Giants' pick in the first round.

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