What Moving On From Reed Blankenship Says About The Eagles

If Reed Blankenship’s tenure in Philadelphia didn’t provide enough value to the franchise, it may be time to accept that the Eagles won’t operate among the NFL’s middle class during this roster-building cycle.

The Eagles' starting safety and team captain left in free agency for the Houston Texans, agreeing to a three-year, $24.75 million contract (averaging $8.25 million per year, with $16.5 million guaranteed).

Philadelphia entered the process believing Blankenship, 27, had developed into an eight-figure player, likely commanding $10 million-plus annually on the open market.

For whatever reason, he settled for $8.25 million AAV in Houston.

What Gives?

Eagles S Reed Blankenship | John McMullen/Eagles SI

By conventional logic, if you value a player at $10 million-plus and can re-sign him at $8.25 million, that’s a clear bargain. The move from there would be to pivot and pounce on the good fortune.

Factor in Blankenship’s organizational impact since arriving as a low-level undrafted free agent out of Middle Tennessee State in 2022, and you have one of the defining success stories of the Nick Sirianni era.

If you still want to believe the NFL is a strict meritocracy, start with Blankenship.

He likely entered as No. 90 out of 90 on the offseason roster in 2022 —or darn close to it—and was certainly the lowest man on the secondary totem pole.

He opened eyes through special teams, became an entrenched starter by Year 2, and emerged as the vocal leader of Vic Fangio’s secondary on a Super Bowl LIX-winning team before earning a captaincy from his teammates before last season.

Yet the Eagles have so many true stars that they’ve drawn an imaginary line: Stars get paid big. Good-but-not-great players entering second contract like Blankenship walking signal that the page is turning no matter the market.

Blankenship is the better example than Nakobe Dean, who received three years and $36M from the Las Vegas Raiders, because there is an obvious in-house heir-apparent to Dean with Jihaad Campbell.

Blankenship's ultimate replacement opposite Drew Mukuba is to be determined and likely not on the Eagles' roster just yet with the top candidate under contract being Michael Carter II, who reworked his deal this week to stay.

Carter, though, would be making a significant change from slot corberback to safety, a somehat mirrored position in Fangio defenses but a move that will come with a learning curve.

Meanwhile, Blankenship was no overpay and that means the Eagles' current blueprint remains: supplement the stars with rookie contracts and short-term, cost-effective veterans.