3 immediate reactions as Eagles claim Jimmy Moreland off of waivers

Another day passes. Another body is added to the Philadelphia Eagles‘ cornerback room. Already having 12 on the roster as we entered May’s fourth full week, the Birds announced the signing of yet another, Jimmy Moreland. They released linebacker Joe Ostman in a subsequent move.

This one’s a familiar face. A former seventh-round draft choice, the former James Madison Duke spent his first two seasons with Washington’s football team before spending the 2021-2022 NFL season with the Houston Texans.

Jimmy Moreland answers a few of our questions while bringing up a few others.

This is one of those things that we didn’t see coming, but it is an intriguing signing seeing as how, despite having five safeties on the roster, it still feels like the Eagles are thin at the position. Moreland, a five-foot-eleven, 189-pound cornerback comes to the Birds just four days after James Bradberry officially arrived at the NovaCare Complex and put pen to paper on a one-year deal.

We won’t waste a ton of time. Here are three things that stand out as we all prepare to get to know the new guy.

1. So, can this guy play safety or not?

Following the signing of James Bradberry, we all knew that the Eagles probably weren’t done tweaking their roster. Now, we thought that might mean they’d be aggressive in finding a difference-maker at the safety position, so while the interest in Moreland is intriguing, it does raise questions.

Are we to just assume that the Philadelphia Eagles believe they’re set at safety with the quartet of Andre Chachere, Marcus Epps, Anthony Harris, and K’Von Wallace? Sure, Philly tends to carry five on the active roster with one being a special team’s ace, but with Reed Blankenship and Jared Mayden scheduled to be the only other two we’re expecting to be at camp right now, we STILL, like most, hope that another move is made.

2. Again, here’s someone that should be familiar to Eagles fans.

As mentioned earlier, this is a familiar face albeit one that Birds fans have seen on the other sideline as a member of Washington’s roster. In four games versus the Eagles, Moreland’s former team won two games and dropped two.

He added 11 total tackles (ten were solo), an interception, two pass breakups, and a quarterback hit to his professional resume in the process while being on the field for 201 defensive snaps and another 27 on special teams. His career tallies stand at 88 tackles (65 were of the solo variety), one-half sack, three additional quarterback hits, the aforementioned interception, five pass breakups, and a forced fumble.

3. Jimmy Moreland creates competition on two units.

Having appeared in 37 career games with ten career starts, Moreland hasn’t played a ton on special teams, but there’s a belief that he’ll compete there while also competing with the 12 other cornerbacks on the Eagles roster.

The names should be familiar by now: Darius Slay. James Bradberry, Avonte Maddox, Josh Blackwell, Mario Goodrich, Tay Gowan, Craig James, Josh Jobe, Mac McCain III, Zech McPhearson, Josiah Scott, and Kary Vincent Jr.

With Slay, Bradberry, Maddox, and McPhearson more than likely being locks to make the roster, one has to assume nine guys are battling for two roster spots if the Eagles elect to carry six cornerbacks on the roster, which is a very real possibility.