Why Howie Roseman looks at Eagles' CB spot ‘in a different way'

By Reuben Frank • Published August 27, 2025

Howie Roseman is looking at this cornerback situation a lot differently than everyone else.

Where we all see a concerning absence of a clear-cut starter at outside corner opposite Quinyon Mitchell, he sees a bunch of guys who have a chance to handle the job.

Where we all see several candidates who haven’t taken ownership of the position, he sees a deep, talented group.

With the season opener against the Cowboys eight days away, we still don’t know who the Eagles’ second starting cornerback will be, but after the roster cutdown to 53 Roseman said not only is he not concerned but insisted that cornerback is in good hands.

"In terms of a clear-cut starter, I think that we’ve got a bunch of good players at the corner position,” he said. "And so I don't think that's necessarily a weakness on this football team.”

There are six cornerbacks on the roster, and any of the five other than Mitchell could conceivably start at CB2. 

Adoree’ Jackson is most likely to be the opening-day starter, although Kelee Ringo and Jakorian Bennett are also in the mix. Rookie 5th-round pick Mac McWilliams has done some nice things, and nobody doubts that slot Cooper DeJean could also handle outside corner, although that would mean finding someone to play the slot. 

”We start by having an outside corner in Quinyon, who we think is ready to take another jump and an unbelievable player,” Roseman said. "We have another corner in Cooper Dejean, who we think, again, is one of the best young corners in the league. And so I feel very fortunate to start that position there. 

"And I think that sometimes we look at weaknesses in terms of strength. I've been here a long time. To have two young corners like that, that's a position of strength. And then we have a lot of guys at that position who are young, who have a lot of talent in their body.”

The Eagles have cycled through a lot of corners over the last few years. 

Darius Slay was the one constant in Nick Sirianni’s first four years. Steven Nelson started in 2021, then it was Slay and James Bradberry in 2022 and 2023 and Slay and Mitchell last year. Avonte Maddox, Ringo, Josiah Scott, Isaiah Rodgers, Josh Jobe, Andre Chachere, Zech McPhearson, Bradley Roby and Mario Goodrich have also started games at corner here and there since 2021.

Gone from last year are Maddox, Slay, Rodgers and Eli Ricks, who played a combined 1,386 defensive snaps. Jackson, Bennett and McWilliams are newcomers. 

In all, including safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, the Eagles lost five defensive backs. C.J.G.J. played 908 snaps. Including postseason, that’s 2,910 snaps gone from the NFL’s No. 1 pass defense.

"I'm excited about the corners that we have on this football team,” Roseman said. "So I kind of look at it a different way. 

"When you look at those guys, they have different skill sets, they have different strengths. You talk about Kelee, I mean Keeley is big, he's fast, he's strong. Kelee has shown that he's one of the best special teams players in this league, which I think is a huge thing for our football team. I probably take it a little bit differently about that position.

"I think that that's a position we have strengthened numbers there, and I'm looking forward to seeing those guys play.”

As for Gardner-Johnson, the Eagles wound up getting nothing for him after releasing Kenyon Green. But the trade was more about shedding cap than acquiring a backup offensive lineman.

"I don't look at things in a vacuum,” Roseman said. "I look at the big picture of how we're trying to build this football team and the resources that we have to build this football team. That's money, that's draft picks. I look at how we're going to build this team for 2024, 2025, 2026.

"So I don't really look at it just in the value of just one specific move. We had to do a bunch of things here that we thought were in the best interest of our team. to compete this year, but also compete going forward. And I think that's a big reason that we made that move there. … We didn't want to lose Chauncey. That was just the nature of the business." 

https://www.nbcsportsphiladelphia.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/why-howie-roseman-looks-at-eagles-cb-spot-in-a-different-way/681092/

What is it that they say about QBs? If you have 2 QBs then you don’t have any at all? Or something like that.

Howie can talk about having depth at the position but the reality is we don’t have good depth. In fact we don’t have good options opposite Mitchell. We have Ringo who has struggled throughout camp and we have Jackson who has struggled in the NFL.

Maybe we strike lucky with Bennett? But that’s a tall order and I think we need to make a move there.

On 8/28/2025 at 9:10 AM, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

What is it that they say about QBs? If you have 2 QBs then you don’t have any at all? Or something like that.

Howie can talk about having depth at the position but the reality is we don’t have good depth. In fact we don’t have good options opposite Mitchell. We have Ringo who has struggled throughout camp and we have Jackson who has struggled in the NFL.

Maybe we strike lucky with Bennett? But that’s a tall order and I think we need to make a move there.

Bennett is starting caliber

Agreed, Bennett is a starter in the NFL. Just a matter of time before he gets most of the starting reps. If he stays healthy, that is

Love having depth, at any position, but that doesn't translate into TALENT.

I would expect the CB2 position to struggle early on this season.