Anyone wondering about the quality of the Giants’ starting safeties would wonder first about Stevie Brown.
Antrel Rolle is an established NFL player, a defensive fixture in New York just as he was earlier in his career in Arizona with the Cardinals.
And so, when Brown says he believes he and Rolle can become the best safety tandem in the league, the obvious skepticism centers on Brown’s worthiness.
After all, his resume consists of four seasons, one of which was brilliant, the other three either nondescript or, in the case of 2013, non-existent, as he sat out the entire year with a torn left ACL.
One year later, Brown is back in the starting lineup and eager to follow in Rolle’s footsteps as a long-term answer in the secondary.
“What Antrel’s done here, and he’s going on his fifth year here, it’s been great,” Brown told The Post Friday at training camp. “Everything he was signed for he proved, he was worth every bit they signed him for. That’s the same thing I’m trying to do. Hopefully I can prove it and they’ll start to talk about me like they talk about Antrel.”
No one can say with any great certainty what Brown is or what he can be for the Giants. He was a 2010 seventh-round draft pick of the Raiders but lasted only one year in Oakland.
He bounced from the Panthers to the Colts for cameo appearances on the roster before landing with the Giants in 2012.
When injury-riddled Kenny Phillips could not stay on the field, Brown was pushed into the starting lineup by default, and he was a revelation.
His eight interceptions were the most by a Giants player in 44 years and his 307 return yards set a club record and was the fourth-highest total in NFL history.
Then he got hurt in a preseason game against the Jets and in his place, Will Hill moved in and turned into a dynamic, forceful presence.
Brown, coming off a major injury, signed a one-year, $1.7 million contract and was again thrust into a starting role when Hill was suspended for six games for violating the league’s substance abuse policy, a third strike that led the Giants to finally cut ties with Hill.
On Friday, Hill signed with the Ravens. Meanwhile, Brown said he has found “a home” with the Giants, but knows he needs to show them, again, before they commit to him for the long haul.
“I like it here and I want to be remembered as one of the best who ever played here,” Brown said. “The Giants have a rich tradition and they’ve had a lot of great safeties to come through here, a lot of great defensive players, and I want to be one of them.”
Rolle is one of them, and he sees no reason why Brown can’t join him.
“I think the sky’s the limit for this guy,” Rolle said. “He can be as awesome as he wants to be.”
There’s no doubt Brown, 27, is a ball-hawk and he can go sideline-to-sideline, but he must show he can cover and make some hits that make receivers think twice about entering his realm.
His knee has not been an issue this summer, but he has not been able to get his hands on the ball in practice.
“Eli [Manning] likes to avoid me,’’ Brown said. “I tell him and Vic [Victor Cruz] every single day my day will be a whole lot better if they actually tried a deep ball every now and then.”
All it takes is a nod or a look for Brown to know what Rolle is thinking, and vice versa. That bond comes from time together not only on the field but also off it.
“He’s definitely one of my better friends on the team,” Rolle said.
The acknowledged king of the safety crop resides in Seattle, where Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas are considered the top duo in the league. Both Brown and Rolle acknowledge that.
For now.
“I definitely think they’re probably the best right now, but I do think me and Antrel can take it,” Brown said.
“I think those guys have earned the right to be named the best tandem, being they played lights out last year as a secondary,” Rolle said. “But this year we’re coming for that.”