Jonesing for a Corner

Posted: March 1st, 2020 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | Comments Off on Jonesing for a Corner

The Combine just wrapped up. Most of the focus was on draft prospects, but with coaches, GMs, and agents in town, you know there is going to be some free agent negotiating going on. Teams and agents want to get a feel for the market to help them make decisions.

Bradberry wants $15M a year? If you’re going to pay that kind of money, go get the best CB for a bit more. That’s Byron Jones.

And it sounds like the Eagles just might be targeting Jones.

The lead paragraph from Tim’s story.

All signs point to the Philadelphia Eagles going hard after a top-end cornerback when the new NFL league year opens March 18, putting the likes of Dallas Cowboys starter Byron Jones in play.

Tim isn’t the kind of writer who just throws things out there. He likely has heard a thing or two.

Would the Eagles be smart to go after Jones? Yes.

I watched the DBs do their Combine workouts today. This is a good group of CBs, but the Eagles could be in a tough spot. The best CBs are going in the Top 50 picks. If you assume the Eagles take a receiver in the first round, the earliest they could pick a CB is at 53. There could be a good CB on the board, but you can’t count on that, as the Eagles have found in recent drafts where they lost out on the top DTs and RBs.

There will be talented CBs to be taken outside of the first round, but you can’t count on anyone who could help right away. Several of the talented prospects might be better in the slot, an area where the Eagles already have some solid options.

I think the Eagles need to re-sign Jalen Mills and add a starting CB in free agency. Use the draft to find depth and players to develop into future starters. The Eagles have failed at this recently, but that doesn’t mean they quit trying. They need to figure out what went wrong and address those issues.

Back to Jones. He isn’t a great player and you would be over-paying him, but he is the best corner on the market and would be a substantial upgrade over anyone the Eagles have had in recent years. You could plug Jones in at RCB, where he played in Dallas.

If you can have a CB limit one side of the field, your FS can cheat to the other side. You can gameplan more creatively. You can play more aggressively. Having an above-average CB makes a huge difference.

Going after Jones makes a ton of sense for the Eagles. They won’t be his only suitor so Howie Roseman, Doug Pederson and Jim Schwartz will have to be smart and aggressive in pursuit of him.

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CB isn’t the only area of the secondary that needs to be fixed. Safety needs help as well.

There were several safeties that looked good at the Combine. The Eagles could go for a safety in the second round and come away with a really good player. They’ll have options in later rounds as well.

Howie might be well-advised to draft a receiver and then focus on safety before CB.

The Eagles still have to sort out the Malcolm Jenkins situation. I lean toward giving him a raise and keeping him around for 2020, but you can make the argument that this is the time for change. Move Avonte Maddox to safety, sign a free agent safety and spend a draft pick or two on the position. Completely overhaul the position, going younger and faster.

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The Eagles have options at CB and S. They have resources.

I’m curious to see what they do.

And I’ll keep my fingers crossed that they make the right decisions this time around.

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