Hindsight is always 20/20 and yes, this is comparing the cost of 3 players (our top-3 safeties) vs 1 other high end starter. But still.
The Falcons signed Bengals starting safety Jessie Bates to a 4yr, 64 million contract. Only 18 million of the 64 is fully guaranteed. He had been a solid 5 yr starter for the Bengals, netting 3 or more ints in 4 of his 5 seasons, and a career high 15 passes defensed in 2020. This season for Atlanta he already has 5 picks, 3 forced fumbles and 7 total passes defensed and 92 tackles, on pace to shatter his career high for that number with 130. Bates has very good playing speed and is an asset downfield in coverages.
We signed Malik Hooker and Donovon Wilson to 4yr contracts, and redid the final year of Jayron Kearse's deal to give him a substantial raise. Combined, we signed these guys to essentially 4yrs, 50 million (again, Kearse only has this yr left) and 14 mils of this is fully guaranteed. The total production we got from this so far? 2 interceptions, 6 passes defensed, 5 tackles for loss. 140 total tackles (avg of 47 each)
Now Wilson had proven to be a pretty solid player for us and a very physical tackler. He had a real knack for blitzing too and was coming off a career high 5 sacks (that's a lot for a DB). So one can easily argue he earned his new contract. That said, he got hurt the first day of camp this yrand has not been remotely close to the player he was prior to this season since. Major liability in coverage. Hooker though had never been more than average and Kearse's play last yr dropped off quite a bit from 2021. Both of them are also beyond bad in coverage.
Really poor roster management here.