Eagles best free-agent safety options with Tyrann Mathieu off the table

So, what do the Philadelphia Eagles do about the safety position now?

As Friday night and Saturday afternoon wore on, there was an intriguing conversation going on in an Inside The Iggles chain of text messages. Actually, there were two of them. One was this. There’s no way the Philadelphia Eagles could be unaware of the fact that they need some guys to play in the secondary, right?

By taking a center in Round 2, the Birds had fostered some mixed emotions in all of us. Sure, we get it. Jason Kelce won’t play forever (even though we believe he can), but does finding his replacement take precedence over fixing the secondary right now?

Don’t get us wrong. Cam Jurgens is going to be a monster when he does get on the field, but isn’t it fair to say finding safeties and cornerbacks more pressing?

All of that led to another discussion, and here’s what it was. Maybe the Eagles are doing this because they know they have Tyrann Mathieu in their back pocket. Maybe they got him.

Well, as you know, we eventually learned that they didn’t. Mathieu has returned home and is a member of the New Orleans Saints, so here’s the obvious question. What do they do now?

If nothing changed between now and the first week of the regular season, we’re looking at a starting tandem of Marcus Epps and Anthony Harris with Jared Mayden and K’Von Wallace as the reserves. That isn’t ideal.

A lot could change between now and then, but if Philadelphia wants to go fishing in free agency’s pool one more time, there are some options. This one took some doing, but we did piece a list together. Be forewarned. It’s May, and the pickings are slim.