Eagles debate table: Were NFL teams frightened by Ronald Darby’s injury history?

Maybe it matters now. Maybe it doesn’t, but is there a slight chance potential NFL suitors were frightened away from Eagles corner Ronald Darby because of his injury history?

Here’s something that many of us left out when we went through the whole ‘Ronald Darby is probably going to be a free agent thing’. For some reason, the prospect of potential NFL suitors shying away from the man the Philadelphia Eagles just gave a one-year deal to didn’t come up often.

Sure, we thought injury concerns would play a part in Philly’s lack of desire to keep him around. Many just seemed to forget that any NFL franchise looking for help at the cornerback position were privy to the same information about his injury history.

So now, rather than seeing Darby set the market for other NFL colleagues who play the same position, we instead see ’21’ re-sign with a ‘prove-it’ deal that keeps him in Philly for the 2019 season.

There were rumors of him heading out to the bay area. They quieted quickly and then, the San Francisco 49ers went with another Eagle, wide receiver Jordan Matthews, instead. We’re aware of the off-season procedure Darby had to repair an ACL after that injury ended his 2018-19 season.

Then, there was the 2017 regular-season campaign. Darby went down in Week 1 with a dislocated ankle and was carted off of the field. He wouldn’t return until Week 11. In his career, Darby’s never played a full 16-game regular season schedule. The closest he came occurred in his rookie campaign when he appeared in 15 for the Buffalo Bills.

2019’s regular season now doubles as Darby’s audition. If he can prove he an stay healthy, there may be an extension coming or a big payday from another team. If he can’t, he may be running out of chances. We’ll have to wait and see what happens, but it doesn’t appear that time or history is on his side.