James Bradberry Would be a Perfect Fit if Giants Release the CB
The New York Giants’ financial pain could end up being the Eagles’ gain.
James Bradberry could be the answer to what the Eagles might want at cornerback, where right now it’s a collection of young, unproven players who would vie to start opposite Darius Slay.
Not that throwing former Zech McPhearson, Tay Gowan, Kary Vincent, and others into a blender and seeing which one can fight his way out isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but Bradberry?
That’s a whole different story.
Right now, the Pro Bowl cornerback isn’t on the market. He could be very soon, however, and Eagles GM Howie Roseman might be poised to pounce.
The New York Giants have about $5.5 million to spend before they reach the salary cap limit of $208 million, per overthecap.com, and they have two first-round draft picks that need signed.
Not just two first-round draft picks, but two top seven picks, and solid picks they were in edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux at No. 5 and offensive lineman Evan Neal at No 7.
It was a blessing picking fifth and seventh overall, but it was also a curse because such draft capital comes with a cost.
It’s one reason GM Howie Roseman wasn’t too keen on using the three first-round picks he held throughout most of the offseason before offloading one to New Orleans and then another to Tennessee for A.J. Brown.
MORE: Ten Takeaways from the Eagles Draft - Sports Illustrated
By way of comparison, last year’s fifth overall pick, Ja’Marr Chase received a $23.9M signing bonus and had a $5.6M cap hit. The seventh pick, Penei Sewell, got a $14.88M signing bonus and cost $4.3M toward the cap.
So, now comes the bill, and Bradberry has a big price tag that may have to be sacrificed to allow New York’s first-year GM Joe Schoen to foot that invoice.
Schoen can cut Bradberry and save $10,1M, though he’d be taking a dead-cap hit of more than $11M. The cornerback is set to count $21.8M on the cap this season.
This is the final year of a free-agent contract he signed following the 2019 season after four standout seasons with the Carolina Panthers, who drafted him in the second round in 2016 out of Samford.
Bradberry, who will turn 29 in August, elevated his game in New York, completing his first Pro Bowl season in 2020 with 54 tackles and three interceptions. Last year, he had 47 tackles and four interceptions.
Now way Schoen would cut a productive player like that, but he may have no other choice. They gave tried to trade but, so far, no takers.
“I’m not going to put a timeline on it as we are working through this,” said the Giants GM via Pro Football Talk. “So, I don’t know how long it will take, but we are working through some things.”
Already, Slay has been tweeting to Bradberry about all things Eagles like he did Steve Nelson last year before Nelson agreed to a one-year deal with the Eagles.
Bradberry would make a ton of sense for the Eagles and allow him to play against the Giants twice a year in the NFC East. He's got the kind of size at the corner that has served him well for years at 6-1, 212.
Of course, there is the cost to consider. The Eagles aren’t exactly flush with cash under the salary cap and the structure of the contract they gave A.J. Brown has yet to be divulged.
Overthecap.com currently has the Eagles with $10.8 in salary cap space but they only have five picks to sign and one in the first round, Jordan Davis and he came at 13 overall.
Last year’s 13th overall pick, Rashawn Slater, received a $9.4M signing bonus and a four-year contract worth $16.6M. His cap hit was $3.02M.
It’s a much more manageable number but manageable enough to offer Bradberry a deal worth taking?
The Eagles showed interest in safety Tyrann Mathieu in free agency until he signed a three-year contract worth $33M with the Saints.
If that’s what Bradberry wants from the Eagles, it probably won’t happen.
With Roseman working the purse strings, however, anything seems possible. And finding a way to get Bradberry – if he is released – would jet this defense, and this team, onto another level, perhaps a championship level.
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
