Philadelphia Eagles May Release This Former All-Pro Defender

The Philadelphia Eagles have been one of the darlings of the NFL offseason thanks to their work in free agency and the draft, but that doesn’t mean their entire roster is up to snuff.

Bleacher Report’s David Kenyon thinks that the Eagles could end up cutting cornerback James Bradberry this offseason after he endured a miserable 2023 campaign.

If Philadelphia designates Bradberry as a post-June 1 cut, they would avoid $10.8 million in dead money.

Considering Philly took a pair of cornerbacks in Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean early on in the draft, it stands to reason that the Birds may opt to save some cash by releasing Bradberry.

The Eagles’ passing defense ranked 31st in the league this past season, and while Bradberry wasn’t the sole reason for that, his declining play certainly didn’t help.

In 16 games, Bradberry posted 54 tackles, an interception, a fumble recovery and 13 passes defended. While his numbers don’t look bad, he was routinely beat in coverage and received a rather paltry 56.6 grade from Pro Football Focus for his work in 2023.

That came one year after Bradberry was actually named a Second-Team All-Pro during his debut campaign with Philadelphia in which he registered 44 tackles, three picks and 17 passes defended.

Bradberry, who played his collegiate football at Samford, was originally selected by the Carolina Panthers in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft.

The 30-year-old spent the first four years of his career with the Panthers and developed into one of the better corners in football during his time there.

He then signed with the New York Giants in 2020 and went on to make the Pro Bowl during his first season with the club after recording 54 tackles, three interceptions, a couple of forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and 18 passes defended.

Bradberry spent two seasons with the Giants before being released. He signed with the Eagles in May 2022.

Philadelphia has attempted to address its ailing secondary this offseason, but it’s clear that there is still work that needs to be done in that area.

The Eagles may ultimately decide that releasing Bradberry and saving that money may be their best option, especially if Bradberry looks slow in camp.

We’ll see what Philadelphia decides to do with Bradberry in the coming months.