Could recently released Louis Delmas be a fit with Patriots?

Paul Sancya/AP

One need Patriots fans have been clamoring to fill for years has been a hard hitting presence at safety. Rodney Harrison played that role to perfection on the Patriots early 2000s championship teams, but since then the Patriots have struggled to fill that void. Brandon Meriweather and Patrick Chung were draft busts, and last year's big free agent signing Adrian Wilson missed all of 2013 after suffering an Achilles injury in the preseason.

Wilson is expected to be ready for offseason workouts but his age (34) and cap hit ($1.8 million) could make him a candidate to be released for cap savings. With Steve Gregory also holding a high cap number ($3.68 million), there's a definite posibility that the Patriots could go in a different direction, looking for the next enforcer at that position.

Could Louis Delmas, recently released by the Lions, be that guy?

Delmas, soon to be 27, was released last week along with receiver Nate Burleson in a pair of cost cutting moves for the Lions. Detroit saved $11.08 million in cap space with the moves, going from $5.3 million over to $5.7 million under the projected 2014 cap. Because he was released, Delmas is free to sign with any team now, and has already been linked (at least by rumors) to the Steelers, Broncos, Vikings and Falcons.

Injuries were the main deterrent to Delmas' Detroit career. The hard-hitting safety missed 13 games in a two year span from 2011-2012, undercutting what had been a solid start to his career. Delmas started all 16 games for the first time in his career in 2013, recording 64 tackles, 2 sacks and a career high three interceptions. He also improved on his past struggles in coverage.

Louis Delmas actually had a reasonable 2013, allowed just 43.8% of targets into his coverage to be caught.
— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) February 13, 2014

Despite this, I will be highly surprised if Delmas winds up in New England. Delmas had struggled enough in past seasons in coverage to necessitate the "actually" in that tweet, often finding himself out of position thanks to bad angles. His troubles staying on the field are also a long-term concern; according to Rotoworld (via the Chicago Tribune) "some teams" removed Delmas from their draft boards in 2009 thanks to a degenerative knee condition that has bothered him throughout his pro career.

While Delmas has proven capable of good play in the past, his short-comings bring to mind the struggles of former Patriot Patrick Chung. Like Delmas, Chung's physical style brought a noticeable difference to the defense, but his inability to stay healthy or improve his angles in coverage too often made him a liability. While Delmas is better in coverage than Chung, his long-term health concerns are even more alarming. Let someone else take that risk.