James Bradberry Splash Has Eagles Thinking Big
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PHILADELPHIA - The lip service was fun but any thought that the Eagles were going to blindly roll the dice on Zech McPhearson or Tay Gowan come September without exploring an upgrade at outside cornerback opposite Darius Slay turned out to be spring fodder.
No good can come to advertising weakness, and if an upgrade wasn’t going to be attainable for Philadelphia, little is accomplished by trashing the contingency plan so it made sense that the Eagles talked up their young, unproven CBs whenever asked about what looked like an obvious need.
It’s also not mutually exclusive to believe players like McPhearson, Gowan, and Kary Vincent, Jr. might have significant upside but also realize that sinking or swimming in the deep end of the pool so early in their careers wasn’t perhaps in their best interests.
Enter James Bradberry, 28, the former Pro Bowl corner who was released on May 9 by the cap-strapped New York Giants.
The Eagles and GM Howie Roseman were able to keep Bradberry in the NFC East with a one-year deal worth up to $10 million with $7.25M of that guaranteed.
The good news for Philadelphia is Bradberry was on the street due to former Giants GM Dave Gettleman’s undisciplined approach toward the salary cap and not the player’s ineffectiveness on the field.
Despite the calendar and most teams having already budgeted for their significant expenditures while flush against the 90-man offseason roster limit, Bradberry generated interest from over 33% of the league’s teams (11 in total according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter).
An NFL source told SI Fan Nation's Eagles Today that Kansas City, Las Vegas, and Indianapolis were among the suitors.
Bradberry cut the list to three teams before choosing the Eagles, per Schefter.
RELATED: Eagles Add Big Piece to Secondary, Sign James Bradberry
Roseman's pitch likely included the opportunity to start right away with the ability to make plays opposite Slay, one of the NFL’s top press-coverage CBs, and perhaps the ability to stick it to the NYG twice before hitting free agency in 2023.
The duo of Slay and Bradberry should be Philadelphia’s best since at least Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown and perhaps even Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor. Add in slot CB Avonte Maddox and the Eagles have one of the most accomplished CB trios in the NFL entering the 2022 campaign.
“It’s pretty lit,” Maddox said during a media-availability period on Wednesday. “I’m excited to work with him.”
“It’s awesome,” added linebacker T.J. Edwards. “We’re just adding really big pieces to this now it’s just about everyone kind of finding their role, fitting and making sure we’re just focusing on the details and one day at a time.”
Another one of those really big pieces – prolific edge rusher Haason Reddick – gave his approval of the move on social media.
Bradberry has been one of the league’s top playmaking corners over the past three seasons with seven interceptions, 35 pass breakups, and a 2020 Pro Bowl bid.
Since Bradberry entered the league as a second-round pick as a second-round pick of Carolina in 2018, the lengthy Samford product has 82 PBUs, second in the NFL behind only Slay (84).
“He’s a great player, and he’s been playing the game for a minute,” Maddox said of Bradberry. “He is smart, and he knows the game really well. Having a piece like that to this defense is a great addition.”
“It’s huge,” projected starting safety Marcus Epps added. “Any time you can add a player like that it’s gonna boost any team. He’s proven to be a really good player in this league for a while now so I’m really excited to meet him. I’m excited to work with him.”
The next step for defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon and the Philadelphia defense is to turn what looks good on paper into real-world efficacy.
“We have all these good players and guys who have played a lot of good football," said Edwards, "but they have to come in and put it all together in the way we want it to 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
