Adding Another Name To The Eagles' Safety Conversation

There’s been a lot of talk about the safety position for the Philadelphia Eagles and who will line up opposite Reed Blankenship on the back end.

No position was rotated more in the spring with Sydney Brown, rookie second-round pick Drew Mukuba, Triston McCollum, Andre Sam’, and Lewis Cine all getting some first-team reps in the wide-open race to replace departed playmaker C.J. Gardner-Johnson.

There are layered aspects to Joe Kasper’s room, however.

When you’re talking about the starter opposite Blankenship, it’s a three-horse race between Brown, Mukuba, and McCollum, the last of which was emphasized as a part of the competition by defensive coordinator Vic Fangio in the spring.

As the “veteran,” Brown, a third-year player, got most of the reps next to Blankenship in OTAs and minicamp, followed by Mukuba, the player who best fits Fangio’s vision from a skill standpoint, and then McCollum, a player the DC seems to like as a serviceable option rarely out of position.

Sam’, an undrafted free agent last season after a long college career that started in McNeese and landed him at Marshall before finishing at LSU, and Cine, the 32nd pick in the 2022 draft by Minnesota, whose career has been slowed by injury, got their first-team looks opposite either Brown or Mukuba when Blankenship was resting.

Another name should be added to the back end of the room in 2025 UDFA Maxen Hook out of Toledo.

No one in the NFL has a better feel for what’s going on with the Rockets because Toledo head coach Jason Candle was once Nick Sirianni’s roommate, teammate, position coach, and even landlord at Mount Union.