Darby Sticks Around

Most people rated Ronald Darby as the top CB available in free agency. Unfortunately for Darby, that perception didn’t become reality. Coming off a torn ACL, there was only a soft market for his services. That may have become good news for the Eagles.

The #Eagles and CB Ronald Darby agreed to terms on a 1-year deal worth $8.5M, source said. A chance to get back at the market next year at full health.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 15, 2019

That certainly isn’t what Darby was looking for as a free agent. But this isn’t a bad compromise. He sticks with his current team, playing on a good defense and in a scheme he knows. Darby has earned a little more than $3.7M so far in his career. Getting $8.5M for 2019 is a pretty nice consolation prize.

Darby is betting on himself. He is expecting to get healthy, have a good year and hit free agency a year from now. If that happens, Darby will be getting a mega-deal from some team.

The Eagles now have a deep group of CBs.

Ronald Darby
Jalen Mills
Sidney Jones
Rasul Douglas
Cre’Von LeBlanc

All of those players have started multiple games for the Eagles. All are young and could be a big part of the future. My guess is that the team will basically have an open competition. The best players will get the jobs.

Keeping Darby does buy the Eagles some time to figure out the CB situation.

Jalen Mills struggled in 2018. Is he going to bounce back from that? Can Sidney Jones stay healthy? Can he play well? Rasul Douglas finished 2018 hot. Can he continue to play like that? And what about Cre’Von LeBlanc? He looked terrific down the stretch. If he can play at that level, he’s your nickel corner for the next five years.

Not all of those questions are going to get favorable answers, but some will.

I left one player out of the discussion so far, Avonte Maddox. He needs to be on the field somewhere. With a deep group at CB, I’m thinking the Eagles will move Maddox to being the #3 safety. And should either Malcolm Jenkins or Rodney McLeod get hurt, Maddox could step in and start for them.

The Eagles have a lot of depth in the secondary now. The challenge is for some CBs to step up and play well.

*****

Source: the Eagles adjusted the contracts of DE Chris Long and LB Nigel Bradham, creating $5.032M in 2019 cap space. Howie Roseman is always creative with the cap.

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) March 15, 2019

Cool. That means Chris Long is definitely coming back.

#Eagles DE Chris Long was due a roster bonus, but he didn’t feel comfortable taking it now – since he hasn’t yet made a decision about his future – so it was moved to after the draft, an NFL source said. That was the restructure @FieldYates reported.

— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) March 15, 2019

Oops.

I’m guessing the Eagles expect him to come back, but there are no guarantees. Long is a guy who loves football, but also understands there is a lot more to the world than just that. He’s made plenty of money in his career so he’ll only stick around if he genuinely wants to.

Ideally, you would have Long for one more year. Much like CB, that would give the Eagles time to figure some things out. How good can Derek Barnett be? Can Josh Sweat develop into a good pass rusher at the NFL level?

One interesting angle. Could this make the Eagles more likely to go DE early? Jim Schwartz’s scheme requires multiple good pass rushers. Brandon Graham and Derek Barnett give them good starters. Long is the top backup. Take him out and you’re relying on Sweat and Daeshon Hall.

The Eagles could sign a cheap veteran to add to the mix. Someone like Derrick Morgan could come in to compete for a job. He’s coming off a bad season and is 30, but that’s the kind of guy you get to come in for a cheap deal.

The key here is that the Eagles have options. Still, let’s hope Long decides to play one more year.

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