Tre Boston: Safeties being disrespected in free agency

Tre Boston is without a job as training camps approach, and he's not the only established safety who can say that.

"It's kinda rough, man," the four-year veteran said Friday on SiriusXM NFL Radio. "They got us where they think they want us. For us, we have to communicate with each other so we don't take this minimum wage."

Boston spent last season with the Los Angeles Chargers and is now one of many established safeties struggling to generate interest on the free-agent market - a group that also includes Kenny Vaccaro, Mike Mitchell, Tyvon Branch, Eric Reid, and Ron Parker. None of them have been reported to be in high demand at any point during the offseason.

Boston said he's had visits with the Indianapolis Colts and Arizona Cardinals, but neither, evidently, produced a contract. In Indy, he said, his meeting didn't involve the Colts general manager, head coach, or defensive coordinator, suggesting a lack of legitimate interest. The Cardinals "rolled out the red carpet" for him, only to later submit an offer he considered "very, very disrespectful."

"None of us are getting close to what we want," he said. "A couple of us have no offers, a couple of us have a couple offers. And the rest, we're just trying to hear what the rest will do. But if I told you the guys that you named off are only worth a million dollars, what would you tell me? It's that kind of predicament we're truly in. You're talking about guys who made $6 million, $5 million, now being offered $1 million. Why do you do that? You do that to keep the cattle where they're at."

Boston registered 79 tackles and five interceptions for the Chargers last season, both career highs, while playing on a one-year deal worth $900,000. He ranked in the top five for safeties in both categories. Boston spent the previous three campaigns with the Carolina Panthers.

"People, they're acting oblivious to something that they truly couldn't put a hand on," Boston said of the stagnant market for safeties. "For me, it's just kind of hard to see this foolishness go around for this long. There's never been a market that's gone on this way."