Eagles Boost Defense in First Week of FA

As the second week begins, general manager Howie Roseman could turn his attention to an offense that still needs receivers, a running back, and OL depth

Jim Schwartz must be smiling somewhere in whatever his coronavirus quarantine looks like. Eagles defensive tackle Fletcher Cox, too.

OK, so the Eagles’ defensive coordinator must find a way to construct a defense without the ubiquitous presence of veteran safety Malcolm Jenkins, but Schwartz’s general manger, Howie Roseman, has helped soothe that loss.

Roseman is giving Schwartz a cornerback in Darius Slay, who isn’t just familiar with Schwartz’s defense from the one year they spent together in Detroit in 2013 but is also supposed to be one of the league’s top cornerbacks, a penetrating defensive tackle in Javon Hargrave, an athletic, though undersized linebacker in Jatavis Brown, and a safety in Will Parks whose positional flexibility is similar to Jenkins.

Cox was already pumped to be getting Malik Jackson back from injury, but he’s going to love Hargrave, too.

As defensive tackles around him got injured, Cox was hurt by the sudden drop in experience and talent of those plugged in next to him. Remember Akeem Spence and Bruce Hector and the two signings off other teams’ practice squads, Albert Huggins and Anthony Rush?

All saw some sort of action with the Eagles as Jackson, Timmy Jernigan and Hassan Ridgeway all got hurt early.

Rush played well, getting into nine games and making six tackles, including three for loss, in just 15 percent of the snaps, and could be a part of the rotation this season that will include Cox, Jackson, Hargrave, and Hassan Ridgeway.

If that line stays healthy, Cox could see a return to 2018 production levels when he had a career-high 10.5 sacks. Last year, with the revolving door at tackle, he had just 3.5 while his quarterback hurries fell from 74 to 34.

Nobody knows what the future holds on defense for Brown and Parks but Schwartz, and even he will need to see how they do once players are able to return safely to the training facility. Right now, nobody knows what the future holds with the spread of COVID-19.

If nothing else, Brown and Parks should help improve special teams units that needed improving.

The second week of free agency begins on Monday and maybe then Roseman will turn his attention to the offense as he tries to fill in some cracks in his roster with the draft now a month away.

Here is a recap of the Eagles’ first week of free agency:

New

CB Darius Slay

DT Javon Hargrave

LB Jatavis Brown

S Will Parks

Returning

DT Hassan Ridgeway

DB Jalen Mills

S Rodney McLeod

QB Nate Sudfeld

Gone

S Malcolm Jenkins

OL Halapoulivaati Vaitai

WR Nelson Agholor

RB Jordan Howard

LB Kamu Grugier-Hill

Eagles free agents

LT Jason Peters

LB Nigel Bradham

CB Ronald Darby

DL Vinny Curry

DT Timmy Jernigan

Needs

Wide receiver

Running back

Offensive line

Defensive end