I had given Eagles general manager Howie Roseman and the Eagles zero chances of resigning Pro-Bowl cornerback James Bradberry to another deal. It seemed like it was just a foregone conclusion that he was going to be playing with somebody else in the upcoming season. He was the regarded as the second cornerback on the roster behind, Darius Slay, but he had an outstanding season with three interceptions during the regular season. . We were all holding our breaths as we watched the secondary being depleted with Bradberry talking to teams, Marcus Epps signing with the Raiders, C.J. Gardner-Johnson listening to opposing teams offers and Slay being told him can see if there are any teams in the league, who interested is trading for him.
I thought there was no way they had any chance of resigning Bradberry, but to my amazement, he’s going to be a Philadelphia Eagle for the next three years. He signed a three-year deal worth in the neighborhood of $39 million dollars with additional possible dollars if he reaches certain incentives.
This is great news for Eagles fans because it means that the best secondary in the NFL a year ago, isn’t going to be totally decimated like I thought. It means Bradberry, who is the one of the key pieces in the secondary will remain in place. I had gotten to the point where I was expecting to see a bunch of new guys in the secondary, who couldn’t get out of their own way. Epps was gone and Gardner-Johnson was as good as gone because the Birds couldn’t afford to pay him.
Now, if some how Roseman and his crew can re-sign Gardner-Johnson, that would be another miracle, but I don’t know how he’s going to be able to pull if off. Regardless of what happens with the former Saints nickel back, the Birds will still have their cornerbacks in place. They not only have Slay and Bradberry, but they also have Avonte Maddox in the nickel back position, and young safety Reed Blankenship showed us that he can man one of the safety spots.
Thankfully, we’re starting to see something that looks like a defense. On the defensive line, we still don’t know if they’re going to re-sign long-time Eagles defensive tackle Fletcher Cox. They’ve already lost their best inside pass rusher in defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, who signed with the Niners. Fortunately, they have second-year defensive tackle Jordan Davis available and he will likely start at one defensive tackle spot. They will have pass rushers coming from outside because Brandon Graham has agreed to return, along with Haasan Reddick and Josh Sweat, who are both under contract and ready to keep pressure on opposing quarterbacks.
At the linebacker position, T.J. Edwards signed with the Chicago Bears and Kyzir White signed with the Arizona Cardinals, so second-year backer Nakobe Dean will take over at one of those spots, but who knows who will man the other position.
Right now, it’s just a matter of adding some good inside pass rushers, finding another linebacker, who is good enough to start, but they definitely have most of the ingredients needed for a good NFL defense.
