The Philadelphia Eagles entered the offseason knowing that there were some difficult decisions to be made on the horizon. They had numerous key contributors from their 2022 team hitting free agency and it would be impossible to retain all of them. Defensively is where Philadelphia was going to be hit the hardest.
Right out of the gate, the Eagles lost multiple players. Linebacker T.J. Edwards was one of the first players to agree to a deal, as he will be leaving for the Chicago Bears. Javon Hargrave signed a massive contract with the San Francisco 49ers. Linebacker Kyzir White is following Jonathan Gannon to the Arizona Cardinals and Marcus Epps is heading to the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Eagles were able to retain one of their free agents, agreeing to a three-year, $38 million deal with James Bradberry. Bradberry was a steal for the team in free agency last season, as he was a cap casualty of the New York Giants and took a lower-paying deal to play for the Eagles.
He formed a great duo with Darius Slay, who poked fun at the Giants for having to cut Bradberry. Karma hits hard, as Slay is now in a similar situation to what Bradberry went through last year.
The Eagles attempted to restructure the contract of Slay, but things didn’t go well. As a result, the plan is for Philadelphia to release Slay. Adam Schefter of ESPN shared an update that Slay will become a free agent today at 4 pm.
There should be no shortage of suitors for the veteran who made his second consecutive Pro Bowl team. The same Giants that he poked fun at could certainly use some help at cornerback; will he look to join them and play against his old team twice a season?
The Cincinnati Bengals are another team that could be in the market for a cornerback with starter Eli Apple hitting the open market. They also lost both starting safeties Jessie Bates III and Von Bell in free agency to the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers.
The Jacksonville Jaguars and Pittsburgh Steelers could also use some cornerback depth. Jacksonville has whiffed on a few recent cornerback additions while the Steelers could use some more help despite already adding Patrick Peterson.
He will effectively replace Cameron Sutton, who signed with the Detroit Lions. Even before Sutton’s departure, cornerback was a need in Pittsburgh.
