free safety
noun
: a safety in football who has no particular receiver to cover in a man-to-man defense
Examples of free safety in a Sentence
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Although the safety positions are interchangeable, Sigle and Mustapha qualify more as in-the-box safeties rather than as a last line of defense, with Brown and Pinnock operating more as traditional free safeties.
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Jerry McDonald, Mercury News, 12 Oct. 2025
He is currently tied with free safety Cam Bynum for the team lead in picks.
—James Boyd, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025
In terms of the depth chart, Sanders is fourth among the free safeties.
—James Brizuela, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Aug. 2025
Woodson is willing to stick his nose in as a box safety and is capable of playing single-high as a free safety.
—Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 18 Aug. 2025
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Jerry McDonald, Mercury News, 12 Oct. 2025
He is currently tied with free safety Cam Bynum for the team lead in picks.
—James Boyd, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025
In terms of the depth chart, Sanders is fourth among the free safeties.
—James Brizuela, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Aug. 2025
Woodson is willing to stick his nose in as a box safety and is capable of playing single-high as a free safety.
—Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 18 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for free safety
Cite this Entry
“Free safety.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/free%20safety. Accessed 28 Oct. 2025.
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