The New York Giants claimed former Baltimore Ravens’ safety, Beau Brade, off waivers on Wednesday. The 6-foot, 209-pound Brade is a former Maryland Terrapin — similar to someone we all know well (Ed Valentine) — and was teammates with Deonte Banks in college.
Brade went undrafted in 2024 but had a productive college career. In 42 games, he recorded 177 tackles, 10 for a loss, a sack, three interceptions, and 11 pass break-ups, with three forced fumbles. Most of his production came in his final two seasons at College Park.
Beau Brade participated in the 2024 Reese’s Senior Bowl and the NFL Scouting Combine, although he didn’t test at the Combine. He measured at the 34th percentile for height, the 35th percentile for weight, and had a 64th percentile wing span (77 inches). His arms were 31 inches (27th percentile), and his hands were 10?
? inches (92nd percentile).
At his Pro Day, Brade ran 4.68 in the 40-yard dash with a 1.58 10-yard split and a 4.31 short-shuttle. His three cone was an impressive 6.89 seconds (71st percentile), and he jumped 32.5 inches in the vertical and ten feet in the broad. Brade benched 225 pounds (the standard for testing )15 times.
Brade latched onto the Ravens as a local free agent in 2024, and he appeared in two regular-season games, totaling three tackles, with additional snaps on special teams. He had seven tackles and a PBU in the preseason, but Baltimore’s loaded defensive back room made him a prime practice squad candidate for Eric DeCosta. The Giants, however, had other plans.
Safety was a likely candidate for the Giants to explore with their third overall waiver priority. The Giants waived both Raheem Layne and Makari Paige at cutdown, with Jevon Holland, Tyler Nubin, and Dane Belton as the safeties on the roster.
The Giants were familiar with the 23-year-old former Baltimore Ravens. Joe Schoen had this to say:
“He’s a player that we spent some time with coming out of the draft, and we liked… High-character kid. Smart, tough, dependable. Checked all those boxes.”
Before we get into a few individual plays, I wanted to show a highlight reel of Brade’s All-22 tape through his young career:
What impresses
On tape, Beau Brade shows flashes that suggest he could handle multiple responsibilities, though those instances are limited. What stands out more consistently is his presence in the box:
Right side of screen, No. 25
I enjoy how Brade tempoed his path into contact here, which put No. 88 in a two-versus-one situation. Once the tight end climbed and Brade confirmed the football’s location in the arms of the running back, he leveraged his quick closing burst to tackle the back at the line of scrimmage — a nice, LOW, physical tackle. Brade quickly filled and the wide receiver had no chance of inserting himself into the play to help the tight end with his unfortunate decision.
In box safety over No. 44 — he is No. 6
Again, we see the quick decision off a singleback run where Brade read the split-zone movement from No. 44 and quickly penetrated the open B-Gap before the wide receiver could crack him. The tackle/guard COMBO had the near linebacker to worry about, so Brade took the initiative to help blow the play up at the line of scrimmage.
Safety in the screen, No. 6
Brade does well when square and coming forward, although I wish he would wrap up more. The Packers run a double-Y pitch, and Brade just quickly fills the C-Gap to earn a tackle for a loss: massive style points, though.
Deep MOFC safety who enters the screen, No. 6
This is a quality fit from depth — Brade is 15 yards off the football and took steps back and toward the outside boundary receiver. Still, he was able to come downhill and adjust to the running back’s path to make an open field tackle in the red zone. This is not an easy thing to do — wrap up, though!
Near LOS to the right, No. 6
Brade takes NO NONSENSE on this block against an in-line Packers’ wide receiver. The receiver was not ready, as Brade exploded — low to high — with tight elbows that provided a firm jolt. Brade then quickly located the ball carrier and disengaged the block to make the tackle.
Right side of screen, No. 24
Backside pursuit in the box is another aspect of Brade’s game that stands out on tape; not just because he’s physical, but it’s his ability to slightly and subtly tempo his path to avoid blocks and trash. He’s spatially aware in that regard. Brade is also quick to target once diagnosed — something that offenses may try to scheme against. It was also a good overall job by the Ravens to bottle up the run.
We saw several plays around the line of scrimmage — some in the box, some in pursuit — and a couple plays from depth as well. He also showed some good processing in coverage on the play below:
Deep middle fourth, No 25
The Ravens ran Cover-6 against a familiar face (Daniel Jones), and Brade was the deep middle fourth defender. The field-side receivers were clearout routes with an inward lean, and the Colts had a condensed stack to the boundary. Indianapolis wanted to clear out the outside deep fourth and have tight end Will Mallory (86) get behind the underneath zone defenders into an open cleared space, but Brade played this well.
The Colts ran the No. 2 toward the middle of the field to draw Brade’s attention. The receiver was rerouted inward and could have done a better job of distracting Brade, to be frank. Still, the young safety saw the route concept and understood the vacated place in zone due to the outside clearout and the back-side drag occupying the underneath defenders. Brade caused some initial consternation from Jones due to his positioning, but Jones stepped up and threw it anyway, but the new Giants’ defensive back helped swat the ball away. Very good and savvy play by Brade.
Needs improvement
Brade has a physical presence in the box, but it’s not always imposing. He relies too often on throwing his shoulder into the target and doesn’t consistently wrap up. His tackling mechanics could be refined.
Safety from right of screen, No. 6
Brade flies in from a two-high shell to make a tackle on the cut-back by Emanuel Wilson (31). However, Brade fails to affect Wilson much as the running back embraces for contact. It wasn’t a big deal because another Raven was waiting for Wilson, but securing to the ground would have saved a yard or two and would have prevented a missed tackle on the resume of Brade.
The Maryland safety had a high rate of missed tackles in college. NBC Sports noted that he had a 19% missed tackle rate (didn’t specify if that was one season or more). He appears too wild into the tackle point at times.
Brade went for the wrap-up against the Eagles in this 2024 preseason play, but could not secure the tackle, which — again — was to the side of the runner.
Right side of screen, No. 6
Brade is adequate as an athlete, but he lacks difference-making athletic traits, which require him to exercise precise angles of attack.
Linebacker position to the right of screen, No. 6
Brade is protecting the C-Gap inside the tight end, who is in a wide split off the play-action fake toss to the field (his side). The Green Bay Packers roll out the quarterback toward Brade and send two receivers toward him to create leverage for Brade’s assignment, the running back. By the time Brade works through the traffic in man coverage, Wilson is off and running into the flats; Brade took a poor angle once he cleared the traffic, and the result was a significant gain for Green Bay.
Center field, No. 24
This was Week 18 against the Cleveland Browns, and Jerry Jeudy (3) made a fantastic move to get outside against Brade. I am not insinuating that this is Brade’s fault — he is not the contain defender, and an alley opened up that he filled. I’m more so including this play to showcase that, with a challenging situation, Brade’s athletic ability fails to bail him out, and he’s a few steps from tracking Jeudy down from the numbers to the sideline off the angle he took after he was put into a bad situation.
Top of screen safety, No. 6
The Ravens sent a massive blitz that left Brade alone against the No. 2 receiver on this third-and-nine. Brade was slow to close width, lost his balance, and fell, which allowed the receiver to secure a touchdown. Man coverage may be an issue, although his angles did appear to improve in the 2025 preseason.
Final thoughts
As you can see, many of the negative plays were from his 2024 preseason as a rookie, wearing the No. 6. Here are some plays surrendered from the 2025 preseason where, yes, he allowed the catches, but his movement appears more crisp and his angles are better judged:
Top of screen safety, No. 25
Bottom of screen curl/flat defender that starts near LOS, No. 25
Brade is still 23 years old, and Schoen raved about his work ethic and character. It is plausible that the young man has rectified some of his struggles from a season ago. He does display impressive short-area quickness and explosiveness around the line of scrimmage. Still, fluidity when transitioning and his long speed will likely only be adequate.
I like the addition for depth and special teams purposes. There’s potential for development if he can focus on his tackling mechanics and become more reliable in that department because he’s flashed talent near the box. He may carve out a role in sub-packages and battle Dane Belton for snaps early. Overall, I understand why the Giants made this claim.
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