Falcons sign Parker as safety insurance

Ron Parker ranked 84th among the 87 safeties with at least 300 snaps last season.

Former Kansas City defensive back Ron Parker (right) has started 64 games in nine NFL seasons. D. Orlando Ledbetter

The Falcons signed veteran safety Ron Parker on Monday. Parker most recently played for the Chiefs.

Parker, who will turn 31 in August, entered the NFL in 2011 when he was signed as undrafted free agent out of Newberry (S.C.) by the Seahawks.

Parker, who’s 6 feet and 206 pounds, has spent time with four NFL teams over his nine-year career, playing in 90 games with 64 starts.

He was pursued by the Falcons when he last was a free agent in 2016, but elected to remain with the Chiefs. He was two years into that fiveyear, $30 million contract when the Chiefs released him this offseason.

In 2001, he was with the Seahawks and Raiders in 2011. In 2012, he was with the Seahawks and Panthers.

In 2013, he made the Chiefs as a cornerback and spent the past five seasons with Kansas City.

Parker is versatile and has played cornerback, free safety and strong safety.

He started all 16 games for Kansas City last season, but the Chiefs moved on from Parker after he turned in his worst season in the NFL. He had two interceptions, two fumble recoveries and 67 tackles in the second year of a five-year $30 million deal.

“Parker earned a careerlow 40.1 overall grade across 1,099 defensive snaps with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2017, ranking 84th among the 87 safeties with at least 300 defensive snaps played,” according to profootballfocus.com. “He also ranked T-No. 76 in coverage grade (45.9) and 79th in run-defense grade (36.6) among the same group of safeties.”

Parker, who tried to help replace Eric Berry last season, was not much help for the run defense, either.

“In run defense, Parker recorded just six stops across 387 run-defense snaps,” according to profootballfocus.com. “He ranked 49th in run-stop percentage (1.6) among safeties with at least 225 run-defense snaps in 2017. Parker missed 14 total tackles in 2017, ranking 71st among the 72 qualifying safeties in PFF’s tackling efficiency (5.4).

“In coverage, Parker allowed receptions on 21-of31 targets for 253 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He ranked 17th among 58 safeties with at least 330 coverage snaps in yards allowed per coverage snap.

It appears the Falcons added Parker as insurance in case something happens to free safety Rico Allen or strong safety Keanu Neal.