Eagles UDFA Signings: Carson Strong, Punt Returner, and Cornerbacks
PHILADELPHIA - There's a cost to trading up for a Jordan Davis-level talent and acquiring a proven commodity like A.J. Brown.
For the Eagles that was the depth of the 2022 draft class which could have been as large as 10 if Howie Roseman stayed stagnant but eventually ended up at a Carson Wentz-like aftermath volume of five selections.
The good news there is that the undrafted free agent class was among the largest in history due to COVID-19 tweaks in the process and the Eagles, as usual, budgeted quite a bit toward the annual feeding frenzy once Mr. Irrelevant Brock Purdy came off the board Saturday night.
"I told Coach [Nick Sirianni] and went and saw the scouts in the draft room, and I said, ‘We have the best undrafted free agency in the history of undrafted free agency,'" Roseman had said on Friday night. "We think we are going to get guys after the draft that are going to be on our front board, and those are going to be extra picks."
The theme was quarterbacks and cornerbacks.
Philadelphia signed the top two UDFA QBs in many eyes, agreeing to terms with Nevada's Carson Strong and Brown's E.J. Perry.
Some had a third-round or early Day 3 grade on Strong, who is right there with Malik Willis, for having the strongest arm in the class. A troublesome knee scared a lot of organizations off, particularly after a poor Senior Bowl performance when it came to showing off his mobility, according to an NFL source.
Strong got a very lucrative deal as an UDFA, however, receiving $320,000 guaranteed.
Perry is kind of the opposite of Strong, undersized (6-1, 211) with average arm strength and good mobility, along with Ivy League smarts.
Both have the ability to push Reid Sinnett as the developmental QB behind Jalen Hurts and Gardner Minshew.
The other headline of the UDFA class was at cornerback.
After failing to address the secondary in the draft the Eagles quickly went to work with three players that had draftable grades by many scouts: Alabama's Josh Jobe, Clemson's Mario Goodrich, and Duke's Josh Blackwell.
A team source told SI.com's Eagles Today that the organization was excited about all three and certainly showed it with Goodrich, giving the slender CB (6-foot, 176) $217,000 of guaranteed money, according to the NFL Network.
Goodrich is regarded as a natural fit for a zone coverage team while Jobe is more of a press coverage option at 5-foot-11 and 182 pounds and Blackwell is a slot CB.
At safety, the Eagles are bringing in Middle Tennessee's Reed Blankenship, and reportedly wanted Florida A&M's Markquese Bell but lost out to the Dallas Cowboys.
Roseman, meanwhile, continued to insist that the Eagles like what they currently have in-house at safety when asked about Tyrann Mathieu.
"I think where we are at the safety position – we have a lot of confidence in Anthony [Harris]. That's why we brought him back. We have a lot of confidence in Marcus [Epps]. Marcus played really good football for us last year," the GM explained. "We have a lot of confidence in K’Von [Wallace]. We brought Andre [Chachere] here last year, we have Jared [Mayden], and we'll continue to look at that position.
"You know, nothing imminent [on Mathieu], but again, we probably have a higher vision of that room than maybe is perceived."
The Eagles also gave significant money to Idaho defensive tackle Noah Elliss, the brother of current Philadelphia SAM linebacker Christian Elliss and son of former Detriot star Luther Elliss.
Elliss is 6-4, 346 and got $240K to join his brother. He could be the backup for Davis at zero- or one-technique as the Eagles continue to shift their defensive philosophy.
Another need the Eagles were unable to fill in the draft was a returner so they took a swing a Utah's Britain Covey, something confirmed by Covey himself after the draft. Covey was very effective as a punt returner at the college level with an 11.9 return average and four touchdowns.
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Offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland is getting at least two more students to work with - Oklahoma State's Josh Sills, predominantly a guard who got $135K guaranteed to sign, and San Diego State OG William Dunkle, who received $110K guaranteed.
In the backfield, Roseman was able to snare one of the better undrafted free agents as well in Oklahoma's Kennedy Brooks.
Brooks (5-10, 209) isn't the big back needed to replace Jordan Howard and isn't lightning fast but he's regarded as an instinctive runner and worth a look.
-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
