Philadelphia Eagles best options for replacing Darius Slay
By now, you’ve heard the news. Then again, what would you expect? Word tends to travel quickly around Philadelphia Eagles circles. Shortly after 10 a.m. EST on Friday, March 10th, ESPN’s Dianna Russini sent a few waves through the Birds’ fanbase and the Philly media as she reported Philly’s brass has informed Darius Slay‘s agent Drew Rosenhaus that the star cornerback is being allowed to seek a trade partner. What happened next didn’t surprise anyone. Immediately, the fan base was split down the middle.
Some believe that letting Slay walk would be a mistake. Others believe there’s no reason to keep him. All agree that the $26.1 million Philly would save by allowing him to move on would be of huge benefit to an organization with salary cap concerns.
The debate continued to rage on into the evening. That probably won’t change after Philly makes a decision one way or the other.
Here are the best in-house options the Eagles have for replacing Darius Slay as well as the best free-agent options and best NFL Draft prospects.
As is the case every offseason, free agency and the coming NFL Draft are all the rage. The new league year begins on Wednesday while teams can begin negotiating with potential free agents on Monday. We should know something about Slay by then… hopefully.
Now that we think about it, a trade may not come until after the first wave of free agency. Oh well. How about we discuss a few theories about what the Eagles might be thinking and discuss a few ideas about how they might move on anyway?
The best in-house move: Extend James Bradberry
There’s been some debate about whether or not James Bradberry, who turns 30 in August, still has the stuff to cover the game’s top receivers. Some believe he’s better suited to be the second corner on the roster. Why is that important? It’s simple actually.
That’s what James is going to have to do if he is brought back after the Eagles trade Slay and reallocate the funds they would have given him to other players. The biggest debate surrounding that is, again, whether or not James can be trusted with that responsibility.
One also has to wonder whether or not it’s wise to extend a 30-year-old cornerback on a multi-year deal when DeVonta Smith and Landon Dickerson are going to need to get paid next season.
The long and short of everything is this. Even if Philly holds on to Bradberry, they still need to invest in another guy, possibly in the NFL Draft, and that’s yet another reason why Bradberry may not make sense.
Ask yourselves a question. Do you believe in Josh Jobe and Zech McPhearson? With that being said, we’ll move off of this one and explore some draft and free-agent options.
The top prospects in the 2023 NFL Draft
This is a solid draft for landing cornerback talent. If the Eagles look to land one, however, they’d be wise to land one early.
Here’s a ranking of the top prospects.
- Christian Gonzalez, Oregon Ducks
- Devon Witherspoon, Illinois Fighting Illini
- Joey Porter Jr., Penn State Nittany Lions
- Tyrique Stevenson, Miami Hurricanes
- Kelee Ringo, Georgia Bulldogs
- Deonte Banks, Maryland Terrapins
- Cam Smith, South Carolina Gamecocks
- Emmanuel Forbes, Mississippi State Bulldogs
- Jartavius ‘Quan’ Martin, Illinois
- Cameron Mitchell, Northwestern Wildcats
The top ten options in free agency at the cornerback position
It seems unlikely that the Eagles would try to land two big-name free agents at the cornerback position (which is probably what they’re going to have to do if they hang on to James Bradberry). Typically, we have seen Howie Roseman wait until after the draft to add defensive backs, and that might be the road he takes again in 2023.
While some would welcome the idea of hanging on to Bradberry, there’s no guarantee that Philadelphia would do so. In the meantime, while you mull that over, here’s a look at the top impending free agents at the cornerback position.
- Jamel Dean, Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
- Byron Murphy, Arizona Cardinals
- James Bradberry, Eagles.
- Marcus Peters, Baltimore Ravens
- Cameron Sutton, Pittsburgh Steelers
- Sean Murphy-Bunting, Buccaneers
- Jonathan Jones, New England Patriots
- Rock Ya-Sin, Las Vegas Raiders
- Shaq Griffin, Jacksonville Jaguars
- Patrick Peterson, Minnesota Vikings
Another NFL year is upon us. Some would say it has started already, but if Friday was any indication, the fireworks will be fast and furious. The Eagles have a lot of work to do, but that’s the same thing we were saying last season. Things worked out okay then, and they figure to work out this time around.
