It may come down to how Howie Roseman answers this question: Would you rather have James Bradberry paying cornerback when the Philadelphia Eagles open the season in Brazil on Sept. 6 or a rookie?
The Eagles GM hinted at how he plans on answering that question when he met with a cluster of reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis on Tuesday afternoon.
“He’s under contract, part of our plans,” said Philly’s general manager.
That’s now, on Feb. 27. Things could change of course. The Eagles are a work in progress this offseason.
“You want to improve every area, every layer of your team,” said Roseman. “Certainly, I think when we look back at last offseason, we made a conscious decision to put a little more resources onto the offensive side, (and) knew that we'd lose some good players on defense.
"I think looking back we certainly missed some of those guys, and that starts with me and making those decisions. I don't think there's an area that we wouldn't be open to addressing.”
So, cornerback could still be in play when the Eagles are on the clock with the 22nd overall pick on the first night of the 2024 NFL Draft on April 25.
Roseman could still choose a rookie over Bradberry, and perhaps Bradberry becomes more of a depth piece, a sort of insurance policy if the rookie – say, maybe Quinyon Mitchell from small-school Toledo, or Iowa’s Copper DeJean, or Missouri’s Ennis Rakestraw, Jr – struggles to start his career.
Or if second-year players Kelee Ringo, Eli Ricks, or Josh Jobe don't improve in the offseason.
Releasing Bradberry doesn’t help the Eagles, anyway. He would have to be designated a post-June 1 cut and that would still not even give them a single penny worth of salary cap release. He is scheduled to make $9 million this year.
There’s no question the veteran cornerback struggled a season ago, coming off a stellar season when he earned second-team All-Pro honors.
Were those struggles due to an inexperienced defensive coaching staff – with a second-time defensive coordinator in Sean Desai and a never-before head defensive backs coach in D.K. McDonald?
Were they a product of age after turning 30 heading into last season?
Or perhaps the decline was because the Eagles had him moving back and forth from the outside to the slot, a spot he had never played in his previous seven NFL seasons.
“I think he's an outside guy,” said Roseman. “I think when you look at the skill set there, that was one of the positions that, as we got into the summer, we kind of knew we needed some depth there. We gave some guys opportunities to do it. I've got to do a better job of bringing in more guys to be able to play that position.
"I think that's one area that kind of you felt like in August maybe we needed to add, so we tried some guys, but when you look at J.B. and his history and his success as an outside corner, to ask him to do something, which is really a different position, is hard.”
The Eagles will try to make it easier for Bradberry this season and keep him on the outside, and it sounds like they are keeping him.
But will he be able to hold his job with a new defensive coordinator in old-school Vic Fangio, who will hold each player on his defense accountable?
Time will tell.
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