One Starting Job the Eagles Are Happy They Don't Have to Answer Today

The safety position becomes front and center at the start of Eagles training camp this week.

All the conversation will go towards the new-look offense and how Jalen Hurts handles another offensive coordinator change, but we really won't have that answer until the season starts.

This summer, the Eagles will have to find a starting safety opposite Andrew Mukuba. The talent pool is thin, even if the top candidate for the starting job is viable.

Marcus Epps did an admirable job towards the end of the season, enough to earn the starting safety job heading into training camp. The Eagles are content with Epps having the job, and are okay if Epps enters the season as the starter.

While Epps certainly will have earned that role, the Eagles are demonstrating ther will be upgrades to the safety position at some point. The Eagles spend just $8.04 million in cash at safety, the lowest amount of any team in the NFL.

They have $24.5 million in salary cap space, enough to potentially acquire a safety this summer. In other words, don't be surprised if the Eagles improve the position at some point in training camp.

Howie Roseman has a history of revamping safety

Heading into the 2022 season, Epps was part of a battle at safety entering trianing camp. A battle where both positions were open.

Epps and Anthony Harris were the starting safeties on the first day of camp, with Jaquiski Tartt batting both of them for a starting spot. The other players in the battle? K'Von Wallac, Andre Chachere, Jared Mayden,a nd Reed Blankenship.

The Eagles needed the majority of camp to see they had to revamp the position -- and they did. Epps earned a starting job, while both Harris and Tartt didn't make the 53-man roster.

Blankenship made the team as an undrfated free agent, and the Eagles traded for C.J. Gardner-Johnson hours before cutdown day. This was the overhaul of the safety position just days before the start of the regular season.

Epps and Gardner-Johnson were the starters, while Wallace and Blankenship rounded out the depth chart. Blankenship grew into his role, eventually becoming a solid starter before departing in free agency this past offseason.

Epps may be the answer to a trivia question someday, just like Harris and Tartt are now when it comes to training camp battles.

The competition is wide open

Epps is the front runner for the safety job, but this is as wide open of a competition as anyone could project. This isn't just for the starting job either.

Who are going to be the four safeties on this roster? Mukuba has one of the spots and Epps is the favorite to grab the other one, whether he wins the starting job or not.

What about the other two spots? The Eagles re-signed Michael Carter and converted him to safety, and have a seventh-round draft pick in Cole Wisniewski, a special teams standout in J.T. Gray, and two undrafted free agents in Maximus Pulley and Kapena Gushiken. Andre Sam, who has been on the practice squad the past few years, is also in the mix.

This comes down to how well the rookies play this summer. Wisniewski, Pulley, and Gushiken are three unknowns, but have an excellent chance to make this roster. The same goes for proven veterans like Carter and Sam.

If Gray makes the roster, he'll have to beat out Kelee Ringo on special teams -- and that's another battle entirely.

A move may be coming

If Roseman does decide to make a move, it shouldn't be surprising.

While the Eagles will look to acquire a starting-caliber safety, that player would also improve the depth at the position. There's nothing wrong with having Epps as a No. 3 safety, since he knows the defense well enough -- and has played well enough -- to have a roster spot.

A veteran also allows the Eagles to develop one of the younger safeties on the practice squad, or any of the three rookies that earn a roster spot.

Given how the 2022 battle at safety played out, and how the Eagles value the position as the summer unfolds, it shouldn't be surprising if an upgrade comes at some point in camp.

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