Philadelphia Eagles trim their cornerback room to 12 prospects

The Philadelphia Eagles have trimmed their cornerback room from the baker’s dozen to 12 prospects. It’s been announced by several sources that they’re releasing a veteran. Craig James is out… for now.

History has shown us that you can never rule out the possibility of the Birds bringing back familiar faces if they have a need Then again, with a deep room, they could be allowing him the opportunity to land somewhere else before camp begins, but as it stands currently, when veterans and rookies report for training camp on July 26th, James won’t be among an already large group of defensive backs.

Here’s the official announcement from the Eagles’ Twitter account:

The Philadelphia Eagles have an intriguing battle brewing at the cornerback position.

The Philadelphia Eagles now have 19 defensive backs on the training camp roster. There are seven safeties in the mix vying for what we expect to be four or five safeties on the 53-man roster. They normally keep an extra man there as a special teams ace (think Rudy Ford or Chris Maragos). 12 cornerbacks are on the roster.

K’Von Wallace, Jaquiski Tartt, Reed Blankenship, Andre Chachere, Marcus Epps, Anthony Harris, and Jared Mayden are the safeties. The corners are as follows: Darius ‘Big Play’ Slay, James Bradberry, Avonte Maddox, Zech McPhearson, Kary Vincent Jr., Josiah Scott, Josh Blackwell, Mario Goodrich, Tay Gowan, Josh Jobe, Mac McCain III, and Jimmy Moreland.

The cornerback competition already figured to be entertaining. It’s even more so now. James had a realistic shot to make the roster as he’s appeared in 18 games with one start over the past two seasons. He’s produced 17 tackles and a forced fumble to Philly’s cause as a result.

Who will step up now? Will it be a veteran, McPhearson or Moreland for instance? Will it be one of Philadelphia’s talented undrafted rookie free agent trio, Blackwell, Goodrich, and Jobe?

Things are getting interesting as there are less than ten days before we reach the beginning of training camp. Expect the storylines to increase as we draw closer.