Whew, how's that for a long-winded title? You all know Steve Gregory, yes? In case you didn't know, he was the Chargers' occasionally-starting backup Strong Safety. Gregory joined the Chargers in 2006 as an Undrafted Free Agent and in that time has only started in 31 games, 13 of which came this past season when Bob Sanders broke down after just two games.
Even with Gregory on the staff, it was apparent the Chargers had a glaring hole at Strong Safety. But with Gregory gone, this leaves Darrel Stuckey as the lone Strong Safety on the staff; yikes. The Chargers haven't had a good Strong Safety since they kicked Rodney Harrison to the curb in 2003. Gregory was just another in a long line of failed attempts.
Gregory visited the Patriots camp this morning and they quickly hammered out a deal. Financials aren't known yet, but we do know he's signed for three years to Bill Belichick's team as a Free Safety. Given how poorly the Patriots secondary was last season, it's not surprise they view Gregory as a potential upgrade to play alongside Patrick Chung.
Going into free agency, the pool of Strong Safety talent was pretty shallow, even before Tyvon Branch and Michael Griffin were franchise tagged. So it's even more apparent at this point that the Chargers will try to pick up a new Safety in the upcoming draft. Head Coach Norv Turner has stated that the Strong Safety position was wide open and he expects Stuckey to compete in camp for the starting position with whomever the team picks up.