Philadelphia Eagles Should Be Cautious About Byron Maxwell

By Blaine Grisak | Feb 20, 2015

When it comes to the Philadelphia Eagles and free agency the first thing that usually comes to mind is 2011 when general manager Howie Roseman put together the “dream team”. In 2011, the Eagles brought in star free agents Nnamdi Asomugha, Jason Babin, Vince Young, and Cullen Jenkins.

The only good thing that came out of that offseason was that the Eagles found a way to trade away Kevin Kolb who went on to a disastrous career in Arizona and Buffalo.

Ever since that offseason, Eagles fans have been cautious when it came to free agency, that is until this offseason. With the struggles in the secondary, a top cornerback and possible top safety are atop the Philadelphia wish list.

On top of that list is Seattle Seahawks cornerback Byron Maxwell. According to NJ.com, the Eagles could be front-runners to land the Seahawks cornerback. The move to sign Maxwell makes a lot of sense and is something Eagles fans have been talking about since the middle of last season. He is considered one of the top free agent cornerbacks on the market, and the Eagles are in desperate need of cornerbacks after going through Bradley Fletcher and Cary Williams the last two seasons.

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While Maxwell would be nice and he is one of the top rated cornerbacks on the market, there still needs to be some caution. What if this guy just isn’t as good as we think he is?

A few weeks ago I wrote an article on how defensive coordinator, Billy Davis, is the problem with the Eagles defense, not the talent itself. Former Eagles Patrick Chung as well as current Eagles Fletcher and Williams have succeeded in other systems.

Some disagreed with this statement and said Chung is currently surrounded and helped by pro bowl talent. That may be the case, but if it is any player who could be helped by a supporting cast and Pro Bowl talent, it’s Maxwell.

With names like Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor, and Earl Thomas, three of maybe the top ten secondary players in the league, it’s not like Maxwell doesn’t have help. This isn’t even to mention that the last two Seahawks defensive coordinators went on to head coaching jobs.

Maxwell graded as the worst cornerback on Seattle’s roster with a negative .2 grade, the only other Seahawks cornerback with a negative grade was second year cornerback Therold Simon who received a negative .1 grade.

Maxwell is a solid zone corner and inconsistent man-to-man, something that the Eagles play a lot of. Since breaking onto the scene at the end of the 2013 season intercepting four passes and allowing only a 40% completion percentage, Maxwell only intercepted two passes all of last season and allowed a completion percentage of 63.4%.

I’m not at all saying that the Eagles shouldn’t go after Maxwell. After all, they desperately need a cornerback. What I’m saying as that they would be better off drafting one rather than overpay for a guy who had eight good games and played inconsistent and hurt this season.

Before the Eagles get too caught up in being the next legion of boom, they need to be cautious before making a big move such as signing Maxwell.

Next: Eagles QB Issues Small When Compared To Secondary

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