Philadelphia Eagles: 3 reasons drafting Antoine Winfield Jr. makes sense
By Hunter Doyle
3. The future at safety is uncertain
The Eagles went into this offseason with the potential of losing both of their starting safeties, in Rodney McLeod and Malcolm Jenkins.
Howie Roseman addressed the uncertainty by re-signing McLeod for two years, re-signing Jalen Mills to a one-year deal while moving him to safety.
To top it off, Philadelphia added the hometown kid Will Parks on a one-year deal while letting Jenkins look for a new deal before the veteran joined the New Orleans Saints for a second stint.
These three provide versatility and experience to the safety group, as Jim Schwartz will have plenty of options regarding how to incorporate all of them on defense.
The hope for McLeod is that he will show improvement since he will be two years removed from his season-ending injury in 2018.
Hopefully if all goes well, McLeod will be on the field almost every snap playing in a single-high, center field type of role.
Mills and Parks are both expected to play in hybrid roles similar to what Jenkins did during his time here. Parks has experience playing in the box and can play some slot corner as well if needed. Mills also played safety in college and obviously has experience at cornerback in the NFL with the Eagles.
This position seems to be set for the short term. However, none of these contracts address the long-term future at safety. If Mills’ transition to safety doesn’t pan out, he’ll be heading back to free agency around this time next year.
The same can be said about Parks if he too underwhelms, and Philadelphia decides to move on down the road.
McLeod does have a two-year deal, but he is also getting older, and the Eagles will have to replace him at some point.
We can all hope that all three of them will stay healthy and be key parts of a revamped secondary in 2020, but nothing is ever certain when it comes to the NFL.
It wouldn’t hurt to add a young rookie like Winfield who can develop under these three experienced defensive backs for a year. He’s also versatile himself and would likely get playing time on defense because of that.
Winfield can also learn under new defensive backs coach Marquand Manuel, who has coached talented safeties in the past including Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor, and Keanu Neal.
Not only would Winfield provide depth right now for the Eagles, but would likely turn into a starter in the near future.