Philadelphia Eagles: The Ronald Darby gamble has failed already
The Philadelphia Eagles took a big gamble on Ronald Darby for the 2019 season, and it already looks like a loss.
Back in 2017, the Philadelphia Eagles took an honest look at their situation in the secondary and knew that something had to change. Therefore, they made some calls around the league in an attempt to see which starting cornerback could be available for the right price.
When Howie Roseman got on the phone with the Buffalo Bills, they offered up their former third-round pick, with some high upside in Ronald Darby. At the time, the Eagles knew they had to do something, and the price wasn’t too high. With that, they made a trade.
By the time week one rolled around, the Eagles felt like they got themselves a true starting cornerback on the outside. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be long before he suffered an injury. During the first game of the season, Darby would get carted off the field due to a dislocated ankle.
Although his season wouldn’t be finished right away — Darby would miss a good chunk of the year and wouldn’t return until after the bye week. From then on he struggled, but many chalked it up assuming he was out of football shape and just trying to bounce back from a lower-body mishap.
Then came to the 2018 season. Darby started the year off looking solid, but eventually, his body would fail him once again during a contract year. By late November, Darby would get ruled out for the rest of the year due to a season-ending ACL injury, which required surgery. At that point, it felt like Darby’s Eagles career was over — but the team was ready to issue one more chance.
The Ronald Darby Gamble
A lot of Ronald Darby’s 2019 offseason required rehabbing. A small chunk of his spring required free agency visits though as well. Since the Eagles didn’t immediately offer Darby a contract, the veteran defensive back entertained other offers with different teams.
Eventually though, the Eagles took a gamble. They offered Ronald Darby just under $10 million to come back for one season. That kind of money meant that he was pretty much guaranteed a starting spot on the outside no matter what. And if he stays healthy and plays well, then he can earn himself an even bigger long-term contract for the future.
Unfortunately, at this point though, the gamble will not be paying off. Through three weeks of the 2019 season, Darby has not only struggled tremendously in coverage and tackling — but he’s also dealing with a hamstring injury, which will force him to miss multiple games at this point.
Before coming to Philly, Darby only missed three games in two seasons. Out of 35 games with the Eagles in the regular season, Darby has only been available to play in 20 of them. Now, he will miss at least the next few with a hamstring injury.
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With struggles and inability to stay healthy and on the field, it’s become clear that Ronald Darby is not the cornerback of the future for the Eagles. Sure, he’s had his moments over time, but it’s hard to believe that after everything he’s done (or didn’t do) in three years with the Eagles he’s going to earn himself a long-term deal. At this point, it’s time to start looking towards a future in Philly without Darby as his time in Philly should be ending rather soon.