Cornerback

[Swoop]

Said it in another thread, but I could see them trying to get Tell from Indy. He's young, cheap, has size and is familiar with Gannon. 

I know he's not the most exciting name, but he's better than most of the corners on this team. Would at the very least provide some depth.

[EagleVA]

22 hours ago, opa-opa said:

No need for good cover corners, we just need a monster D line and blitz on every play. Don't give the QB enough time to throw. 

That was my thinking with Barmore.

[kentwo]

5 hours ago, EaglesFan said:

This is what I’ve been hoping for awhile now.  I don’t think either would be terribly expensive, and as they’ve both been on the market for awhile now I would think a shorter term deal would be acceptable on their end.  Conley is still pretty young, so who knows?  Maybe he turns things around a little and actually starts to flash some of the talent that got him drafted so highly.  If not, you signed him to a short term deal so no major loss.

It was mentioned on TV or a podcast that at this time of the year a lot of those level players are unsigned by choice and not necessarily because of a lack of opportunity. If they weren't signed in the early big money wave of FA, they can sit tight for a while knowing that players will get hurt and/or teams will reassess and be looking for help in August which will raise their asking price and possibly allow them to find a situation that can benefit them long term.

 

[DeathByEagle]

11 hours ago, rrfierce said:

at least we won't have to see robey-coleman again.

 

[Traveler Vic]

17 hours ago, Cochis_Calhoun said:

If we're so tight on cap that we're not sure we can afford the rookies, then any room cleared will have to go to that first, anything beyond that will I guess go towards getting Sweat and Barnett tied up long term, which theoretically frees up some cap space given Barnett's cap number is ridiculous as it stands, having said that Barnett is looking at $10million guaranteed for this year and a way more attractive market next year so may decide to stand pat and given there's been talk of talks since the start of the league year and no movement I'm guessing it is heading that way, that makes a Sweat deal even more important to avoid going into next year with neither.

So I don't think a corner is nailed on, consider that Jalen Mills got a base salary of $3mill out of the Patriots, so you're trying to get someone cheaper than Jalen Mills who most of this fanbase was glad to see the back of, you'd have to ask how much of a difference such a player would make?  My guess is Breeland and Sherman are the only ones we could realistically afford (don't forget no team goes into the season proper with no cap space at all, you have to have a contingency for injuries),  Breeland is at best hit and miss and likely not that much better than we have and Sherman is done at 33 coming off a season where he only played 5 games and wasn't that good when he made the field, people like Conley and Artie Burns are notionally attractive as former 1st rounders under 30 but they both suck. Nelson is worth a look but he's only on the market because the Steelers needed to clear cap, my bet is he get's offered more than our $10, all the frozen yogurt he can eat and some shiny buttons.

• Team Cap Space: $4,828,123. The only players who can save the cap.. is Cox restructuring (Unlikely) and Ertz. Ertz cut or traded 4.9 mil pre June, Ertz cut 8.5 mil post June.
•  

[Outlaw]

17 hours ago, rrfierce said:

at least we won't have to see robey-coleman again.

Thank god. That was not quite Nnamdi level CB bust, but damn it was close. I think very many here are underestimating Zech. I had him ranked much higher than 123 (had him in the 80-90 range) and while I still think they should bring in a vet for CB2, he will get a chance to earn that job in camp. I for one hope he does. 

[Cochis_Calhoun]

17 hours ago, ManchesterEagle said:

 

They can clear enough space for a small cap hit on corner. They get 4 million back from Jeffery/Jackson in June. 

A couple more restructures and they should have up to 5 million if necessary after the draft picks are signed. I agree we probably can't afford Nelson. 

But all those guys you listed are better than what we have at CB2, including Mills. Even if it is a transition season we need to give Gannan at least a fighting chance of being able to stop teams like Dallas and Arizona and he doesn't have that right now with those corners.

You forget we let corners walk out the door throughout Doug's time here and pretty much all of them are still starting in the NFL, at this point Howie may consider it a decent roll of the dice to see what we actually have with  new coaching staff and scheme. 

And the cap situation is what it is, it is immutable, given the number of players we have under contract for next year plus the cap space we couldn't even offer someone multiple years with a low ball first year.

We aren't winning the Superbowl this year, its pointless digging ourselves a bigger cap hole going forward signing an expensive depth corner as if 2 more passes defended this year is going to define our season and get us over the hump. Give McPhearson his shot. 

[UK_EaglesFan89]

7 minutes ago, Cochis_Calhoun said:

You forget we let corners walk out the door throughout Doug's time here and pretty much all of them are still starting in the NFL, at this point Howie may consider it a decent roll of the dice to see what we actually have with  new coaching staff and scheme. 

Are they? Who?

[Cochis_Calhoun]

3 hours ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

Are they? Who?

Douglas, Darby, Rowe, Mills and Jones are all still on NFL rosters, Ronald Darby is one of the top 5 paid corners in the league after signing with the Bronco's.

If you're going to pull the 'actually some of those are playing second string' card, spare me we still let them walk so we could trot out people like LeBlanc, Maddox, James, Williams and Jacquet.

 

[UK_EaglesFan89]

5 minutes ago, Cochis_Calhoun said:

Douglas, Darby, Rowe, Mills and Jones are all still on NFL rosters, Ronald Darby is one of the top 5 paid corners in the league after signing with the Bronco's.

If you're going to pull the 'actually some of those are playing second string' card, spare me we still let them walk so we could trot out people like LeBlanc, Maddox, James, Williams and Jacquet.

 

From what I recall Douglas started pretty well in Carolina but then started to fade. Darby is not a good corner and is Rowe really still playing? Jones was cut because the dude couldn't stay healthy and it was becoming very apparent things were not going to work out in Philly. As for Mills... If Schwartz was still here he probably would be back. Mills was a decent starter and he was a good pick but he isn't going to light it up in NE (or at least I very much doubt he was). Mills is gone because we have a different coaching staff.

[DeathByEagle]

1 hour ago, Cochis_Calhoun said:

Douglas, Darby, Rowe, Mills and Jones are all still on NFL rosters, Ronald Darby is one of the top 5 paid corners in the league after signing with the Bronco's.

If you're going to pull the 'actually some of those are playing second string' card, spare me we still let them walk so we could trot out people like LeBlanc, Maddox, James, Williams and Jacquet.

 

I've said it for years, Jim's scheme was a DB/LB killer. They were set up to fail. His coverage was too predictable for QBs to read presnap. As long as they Qb had decent protection to give them 3-5 secs in the drop back. Jim's scheme was solely based off front line pressure, who cares about the back 7. 

Now i know a lot of teams don't blitz a ton but they at least mixed it up to confuse the oppt QB and OC. A switch to Gannon is refreshing. Its just a few years too late. I wanted him gone after the 2018 season. If that happened perhaps some of the DBs would still be here and possibly have rebounded here. If so we wouldnt be as rough shape as we are. 

Now I do believe Maddox is a solid CB BUT he is a nickel, not an outside. Adding McPhearson is a nice pickup. He was on my list for the 4th round. Reminds me of a poor mans Sheldon Brown. With Gannon coaching him up, I can see a solid player added. Not going to lie, I was big on Samuels Jr in the 2nd and even Robinson in the 3rd to go along with a McPhearson but I also don;t think Howie is done at the Cb position this season. 

[pgcd3]

1 hour ago, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

From what I recall Douglas started pretty well in Carolina but then started to fade. Darby is not a good corner and is Rowe really still playing? Jones was cut because the dude couldn't stay healthy and it was becoming very apparent things were not going to work out in Philly. As for Mills... If Schwartz was still here he probably would be back. Mills was a decent starter and he was a good pick but he isn't going to light it up in NE (or at least I very much doubt he was). Mills is gone because we have a different coaching staff.

And Jones didn't stay healthy in Jax. He started 6 games I believe and showed some promise but still just 6 games

[UK_EaglesFan89]

2 minutes ago, pgcd3 said:

And Jones didn't stay healthy in Jax. He started 6 games I believe and showed some promise but still just 6 games

Exactly. Sometimes unfortunately these guys just can't stay on the field. 

[Diehardfan]

Easiest way to tank is to not have a secondary. 

[vaff]

On 5/3/2021 at 3:47 PM, ManchesterEagle said:

 

 

Caplan is a clown - he's the one who claimed Ertz would definitely be traded by the end of the draft "for sure".

With the money freed up by Jeffery and Jackson, I think the Eagles have enough to sign draft picks and afford a corner on a reasonable deal.

A lot of people thought Ertz would be traded during the draft. Apparently teams were willing to meet the Eagles asking price, but Ertz’s contract is an issue.

[Jenkins27]

On 5/3/2021 at 1:55 PM, time2rock said:

Plus we'll see an additional $4M in cap relief after June 1 (as part of using the post June 1 designations when releasing both Malik Jackson and Jeffery).  

As well as a Barnett extension.

[Traveler Vic]

18 hours ago, DeathByEagle said:

I've said it for years, Jim's scheme was a DB/LB killer. They were set up to fail. His coverage was too predictable for QBs to read presnap. As long as they Qb had decent protection to give them 3-5 secs in the drop back. Jim's scheme was solely based off front line pressure, who cares about the back 7. 

Now i know a lot of teams don't blitz a ton but they at least mixed it up to confuse the oppt QB and OC. A switch to Gannon is refreshing. Its just a few years too late. I wanted him gone after the 2018 season. If that happened perhaps some of the DBs would still be here and possibly have rebounded here. If so we wouldnt be as rough shape as we are. 

Now I do believe Maddox is a solid CB BUT he is a nickel, not an outside. Adding McPhearson is a nice pickup. He was on my list for the 4th round. Reminds me of a poor mans Sheldon Brown. With Gannon coaching him up, I can see a solid player added. Not going to lie, I was big on Samuels Jr in the 2nd and even Robinson in the 3rd to go along with a McPhearson but I also don;t think Howie is done at the Cb position this season. 

Is there a perfect defensive scheme out there, that other NFL teams will not crack in a very short time?  Switch to Gannon is extremely refreshing..But with what Jim head inheriting the leagues worst defense...he did OK, and helped Eagles win the only Super Bowl in this town. Thanks Jim.

[EagleVA]

On 5/3/2021 at 6:45 PM, NOTW said:

The corner cupboard is quite bare.  Slay, Maddox and some scrubs.  Yikes.

FIXED!!

[pgcd3]

5 hours ago, Traveler Vic said:

Is there a perfect defensive scheme out there, that other NFL teams will not crack in a very short time?  Switch to Gannon is extremely refreshing..But with what Jim head inheriting the leagues worst defense...he did OK, and helped Eagles win the only Super Bowl in this town. Thanks Jim.

Yeah while Schwartz frustrated me at time I had respect for him as did the league. The playoff performances outside the SB were the best we've had and he's generally worked with little talent outside the DL.  I think fans who are expecting first year coordinator Gannon to out perform him are setting the bar maybe unrealistically high.  He might be more aggressive which we like more but I'm not sure the results will be better with this talent

[jsdarkstar]

On 5/5/2021 at 11:13 AM, Diehardfan said:

Easiest way to tank is to not have a secondary. 

Yep. Especially with 3 first round picks next year. 

[CaliEagle]

On 5/3/2021 at 9:59 AM, ManchesterEagle said:

Not a topic to discuss failing to address corner until the 4th round. That's done now.

But surely we need to sign a free agent corner. I don't care about "rebuilding year" You can't go into a season again with Maddox starting on the outside and a bunch of guys who aren't quite good enough to get on most teams practice squads behind him. Hurts looked bad when he was trying to chase the game against Dallas. Need to give our new DC against a chance of stopping somebody and getting the ball back.

So what we thinking - bring in a Josh Norman or Richard Sherman for a year and give them help over the top? Or would they be too expensive?

Or take a flyer on somebody like Breeland and hope he works out?

Also wouldn't mind re-signing LeBlanc to compete at nickel.

 

Sherman and Norman are just big names at this point. They are basically done.  I think the FO has devaluated CB like LB in recent years.  It is going to be an issue.  We might be able to get one CB like Nelson in FA, but we don't have the cap money now. We really need at least two more CBs and we just have a bunch of street guys and Slay.  I'm not high on Maddox at all. He has regressed and I don't think it is completely based on slot vs. outside.  He is lucky we have a massive lack of talent at CB, so it ensures he will be back again.  Maybe Gannon can salvage him.  I think value was on the board at CB in Round 2 and 3 and Howie ignored it for positions he values more based on analytics. I think that was a mistake.

[opa-opa]

I think we need to tank for 1 more year, get an easy schedule for 2022, and along with the 3 1st round picks we're gonna go to the Superbowl again like in 2017!

[UK_EaglesFan89]

10 hours ago, opa-opa said:

I think we need to tank for 1 more year, get an easy schedule for 2022, and along with the 3 1st round picks we're gonna go to the Superbowl again like in 2017!

The problem there is the QB position. If we tank this year then its likely in part due to Hurts not being very good. If Hurts isn't very good then we need to draft a QB.

The hope would be that next year's QB class is better than we currently think. And that if we have had a bad year that we will be drafting high so we won't need to use picks to trade up and get one of the top QBs.

[EazyEaglez]

On 5/3/2021 at 1:09 PM, UK_EaglesFan89 said:

Steven Nelson or Gareon Conley would be nice. 

Sign a guy to a 1-2 year deal, bring them in and just solidify the opposite side to Slay and try to get by. 

We aren't going to be contenders this year but we need to have enough pieces to be able to assess the new coaches.

Probably a waiting game now. There’s that next FA push that happens before TC so we might see something then. Reminds me of 2017 when the Eagles basically had no running backs till they signed Blount and traded for Ajayi. 

[UK_EaglesFan89]

9 hours ago, EazyEaglez said:

Probably a waiting game now. There’s that next FA push that happens before TC so we might see something then. Reminds me of 2017 when the Eagles basically had no running backs till they signed Blount and traded for Ajayi. 

Yeah I'm sure they are going to make a move or two. They know that they have no depth at corner and as things stand they don't even have a #2 opposite Slay.