Philadelphia Eagles: 3 Things to know about Corey Nelson

When news broke that the Philadelphia Eagles were signing inside linebacker Corey Nelson, much of the fan base responded with the same question. Who?

Ladies and gentlemen, the calendar has finally turned to March 14th. The NFL Network and much of the media has dubbed this time as the ‘Free Agency Frenzy’. The expectation by most of the Philadelphia Eagles‘ fan base was this time would be used, primarily, to clear cap space. After that, if there were a few dollars available, they’d make a move or two. Everyone thought if they did so, they’d add a linebacker. No one thought that linebacker would be Corey Nelson.

After Nelson’s signing, most Eagles fans were in the same spot, needing to pull up a search engine to figure out who this mystery man was. We’re not going to lie. We did the same thing over here at ITI, but we’ve done our research and we feel a little better about the Nelson signing than we did on Tuesday.

Here are three things about Nelson you might find interesting.

1. Nelson’s deal will be one year, and it will carry a $2.25 million price tag.

Typically, NFL teams don’t give someone over $2 million dollars because they don’t expect him to see the field much. Nelson’s a former seventh-round pick who’s spent most of his time with the Denver Broncos on special teams. This was an area where head coach Doug Pederson said the team could improve in 2018 when he spoke to the media at the most recent NFL Combine.

He’ll most likely be expected to contribute there immediately, but the Eagles have also expressed that they view him as an outside linebacker as well.

2. He’s coming off of an injury.

On October 21st of 2017, the Broncos placed Nelson on the team’s injured reserve when he tore both of his biceps. It always raises a red flag when you mention any athlete and an injury, especially in football, but prior to getting hurt, Nelson was seeing an increase in his playing time.

In 2016, Nelson played in all 16 games, starting five and recording a career-high 67 tackles. In Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz‘s scheme, the linebackers blitz seldomly, and they’re expected to help in pass coverage. Check another box for Nelson as he broke up five passes in 2016. He’s broken up six in his career.

He’s also recorded one sack and one fumble recovery.

Next: Are the Eagles putting Mychal Kendricks on the trading block?

3. He can also play a little tight end.

Believe it or not, Nelson has also appeared on the Broncos depth chart at tight end. At six-foot-one and 226 pounds, some may see him as an undersized linebacker. Still, if he can actually play a little tight end and he truly was more than a filler on the depth chart, Philly might be able to utilize some of that versatility. Hey, if tight ends can throw touchdown passes to quarterbacks in the Super Bowl.

Also, Nelson hasn’t played much during his four-year career. He has plenty of tread left on the tire.

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