The Eagles Perk That Brought James Bradberry Back to Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Eagles like to talk about winning outside the margins.
How about winning inside the cafeteria?
The way to James Bradberry's heart is through his stomach, and the second-team All-Pro cornerback isn’t the first Eagles player to mention the NovaCare Complex cafe as one of the reasons for signing a new deal. He’s just the latest.
Veteran All-Pro center Jason Kelce has been taking things year-by-year for a while now and often points to the cuisine as a selling point to keep it going, and any media member who was around long enough to remember the pre-pandemic days understands just how much easier it was to go to work with the oasis of lunch looming.
“I love the cafe,” Bradberry smiled when running down a list of reasons he returned to Philadelphia. “There’s always great food in the cafe.
“I’m a foodie.”
The food may have gotten the veteran cornerback over the finish line but there were plenty of other factors as well, starting with the dollars and cents.
The thought entering free agency was that Bradberry priced himself out of the cap-strapped Eagles’ budget but hemming and hawing from safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson opened up an opportunity to further discuss things with Bradberry.
Ultimately, Eagles general manager Howie Roseman believed he could keep two of his top three defensive backs and the earliest plan seemed to be keeping fellow cornerback Darius Slay with a renegotiated deal to lower his cap number and re-signing Gardner-Johnson.
When CJGJ balked at the Philadelphia contract offer, three years with an $8 million average annual value according to a league source, Bradberry was back in play.
Ultimately the player in that trio voted most likely to leave was the first to be locked in for 2023 when Bradberry inked a three-year, $38 million contract, $20 million of which is guaranteed.
“I had a lot of uncertainty going into free agency,” Bradberry admitted right down the hall from the cafeteria at the NovaCare Complex auditorium. “I wasn’t sure if I would be back, but I definitely wanted to come back.
“I’m glad it worked out this way because it’s a great situation here, and I love being here.”
Once Bradberry was secured, and Gardner-Johnson continued to drag his feet, Roseman got to work on convincing Slay to run it back even though the Pro Bowl CB took to social media to say goodbye to Philadelphia while Baltimore beckoned.
“That’s the business side of it,” Bradberry said of Slay. “I know there was an opportunity for him to go on and play somewhere else. I respected it. He’s a good player, and he’s done enough in this league to make his own decisions based on whatever he has going on in his mind, but I’m glad he came back.”
Now the Eagles return what is arguably the best CB trio in the game when you add slot corner Avonte Maddox to the outside duo of Slay and Bradberry while trying to work in a new backline with second-year safety Reed Blankenship, free-agent pickup Terrell Edmunds and rookie Sydney Brown in the mix.
Bradberry spoke very highly of Blankenship, who came out of nowhere as an undrafted rookie last season when forced into the lineup due to injury.
Along with the food, Bradberry mentioned the coaching, training, and equipment staffs, as well as the talented roster, as reasons he’s back for Year 2 in Philly.
The accolades are the highest they’ve ever been for Bradnerry last season as a second-team All-Pro with three interceptions and 17 pass breakups in a system that will be very similar under new defensive coordinator Sean Desai, who replaces new Arizona head coach Jonathan Gannon.
“Seems like a real smart guy,” Bradberry said of his new defensive coordinator. “I feel like I’m a real smart football player so I love being around smart coaches that help put us in positions to make plays.”
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-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 "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
